Spring Training Game Thread: 2/26 vs. Orioles

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

 

I wonder if home-road advantages are more pronounced during Spring Training. Especially where there are split squads, don't teams usually send the scrubs on the road, and keep the stars for the home fans to enjoy?

I thought thre was some sort of rule where you had to send at least four semi-regulars so the home team fans didn't have to watch nine no-names

[ashbury]

I thought thre was some sort of rule where you had to send at least four semi-regulars so the home team fans didn't have to watch nine no-names

That does ring a bell.

 

OTOH here is the starting lineup last Saturday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota:

 

3B Adrianza

SS Torreyes

RF Cave

DH Duda

1B Austin

LF Wade

CF Granite

2B Gordon

 C Telis

 

Only about 3 of these are even strong chances to come North on Opening Day as backups. I guess you can stretch "semi-regular" to cover the first 5 of them.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

There were two leeeeetle beeeeety things that Buxton was doing wrong last season.

• Not laying off unhittable pitches outside or in the dirt
• Swinging clean through on strikes down the middle

Other than that, he was sound.

 

Early spring results probably don't tell us a thing about his eye for the breaking stuff. But apparently when the ball is laid in there for him, he can turn on it.

 

That's a start.

 

There were two leeeeetle beeeeety things that Buxton was doing wrong last season.

• Not laying off unhittable pitches outside or in the dirt
• Swinging clean through on strikes down the middle

Other than that, he was sound.

 

Early spring results probably don't tell us a thing about his eye for the breaking stuff. But apparently when the ball is laid in there for him, he can turn on it.

 

That's a start., 2 HR 

Buxton has 21 more pounds of muscle and it shows. He is more self confident and he is on a mission this year. He played awesome. In the 2 games I just attended (Rays and Orioles at Fort Myers), BB had a smart single to the 2B hole which was vacated when a slight shift was put on him, plus 2 doubles and 2 HR. 5 for 5. It was the best display of hitting I have ever seen for 5 consecutive at bats. Berrios, Rogers and Romero we awesome.  Throwing strikes. But then they should be...it's spring training.Wander Javier, and Ben Rortvedt each had  a real bad SO. I can't base their future on 1 at bat...but I was disappointed that each looked so lost at the plate.. Rooker did not look good in his bats either., but then Rosario looked pretty bad on one of his at bats too, so what do I know?.  At batting practice, Nick Gordon showed a lot of power, hitting at least one ball over the fence every turn in the batting cage. I know Seth had mentioned Gordon's power recently, but to be as small as he appears, the young man has a lot of power. Luke Raley was mashing the ball at BP also.  The sound made when he hit the ball was different from the sounds that other batters were making when they hit the ball. Raley may turn out to be  a contributor sooner than we expect.  At batting practice, hitting coach James Rowson stood 30 feet from the batter down the 3B line and challenged each batter to bunt the ball between his legs on the first pitch of batting practice, Only one of 8 that I watched succeeded. Pitiful. That's with batting practice pitches.  That should be emphasized more. 2B Luis Arraez made a beautiful play at 2B and so did Wander Javier at SS, both were plays to their right with strong accurate throws to 1B. Impressive. Jonathan Schoop looked very smooth fielding at 2B. He had fun talking to his former teammates on the Orioles. Looks like he was enjoying playing the game against his buddies. Schoop is going to prove that his signing was a smart move for the Twins. He seemed to be a leader also. Speaking of that, I was glad to see Jorge Polanco smile several times.  It appeared to me last year that he rarely smiled. Willians Astudillo threw a strike to 2B to throw out a baserunner trying to steal. Brian Navarreto has a cannon for an arm.In case there are injuries during the same time  to two Twins' catchers, he could fill in defensively. Don't know about his offense. McGill was throwing some heat from the mound. I will say that I came away from spring training a little worried about 1B this year. However with the recent Gonzales signing, the Twins have more flexibility there now (Sano, maybe). Overall I feel very optimistic for Twins' success in 2019. This years Twins' team is going to win a lot of games and be fun to watch. My keys for the Twins will be a fast start, avoiding injuries and by accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative, and not messing with Mr. In-Between.  (What a great song  from the 40's that was, thanks to Johnny Mercer). Attitude will give a talented player and a talented team an edge in baseball and in life. This year I am looking for positive attitude encourage-rs. I think the Twins have gained some this off season.

[Channing1964]

it feels so good to see Buxton and the rest of the team have some success!