Notebook: Now They Count

[Ted Schwerzler]

With an early start time the Twins and Pirates blitzed through a final dress rehearsal prior to boarding planes for Opening Day. Next time Minnesota takes the field, it will count.Final: Twins 1, Pirates 1 (F/7)

Box Score | Savant

 

Not much to take away from here on getaway day as batters clearly were attempting to put the ball in play early and often. Minnesota hitters fanned just six times and drew two walks. Following a Ke’Bryan Hayes laser in the top of the first inning, Max Kepler knotted things up with a sacrifice fly to score Luis Arraez. Neither team pushed another across, and a tie seems like a fitting end to the slate of games in which results do not count.

 

Opening Day Lineup Tease

 

Yesterday the Minnesota Twins made the Opening Day 26-man roster official. There has been plenty of speculation in regards to how Rocco Baldelli may assemble his group to start the year, and an interleague matchup with no designated hitter makes that all the more puzzling. Tuesday may have given us a glimpse, and despite Luis Arraez playing sparingly in left field this spring, it could be a way to insert his bat from day one.

 

Saints Hosting the Opener

 

Although the Triple-A season isn’t schedule to begin until May, Minnesota’s newly aligned affiliate wants Twins fans in the ballpark sooner. The St. Paul Saints announced today that they would host a watch part on April 8 at CHS Field. Twins “Stars of Tomorrow” will take batting practice on the field prior to the game, and then fans will have the opportunity to watch the big-league club take on Seattle while it’s broadcast on the video board. Given Bally Sports North has yet to come up with streaming options for many fans, the $10 ticket may be the cheapest way to view the action live.

 

Twins Crushing Content

 

Minnesota’s social team has been spot on all spring, but they may have saved the best for last. A few days ago, Nelson Cruz got the mic’ed up treatment and delivered as you’d expect. Today was Kenta Maeda’s turn, and it was awesome to see a different perspective and experience given the language barrier presented to Asian ballplayers. Kenta has been the Twins ace since joining the organization, and it’s very clear that he keeps his routine light when off the mound.

 

Around the League

 

Reported yesterday and now official, the Chicago White Sox have signed Jake Lamb to a Major League deal. There’s a Twins twist here as former reliever Nik Turley was DFA’d to make room.

 

 

The Marlins are naming their ballpark. Jeets has gotten rid of the Sculpture and fish tanks, now the yard will be called loanDepot Park.

 

 

Toronto is going to be interesting this year. The team on the field is pretty good, but they’re also homeless into the month of May. With Canada not yet allowing the Blue Jays to play home games in Toronto, they’ll spend their third homestand in Dunedin at the new Spring Training facility.

 

 

Alanna Rizzo is rejoining MLB Network. She’ll team up with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on High Heat.

 

 

MLB The Show is just under three weeks from launch, and this year they’ll get the best players involved with the action by handing them personalized plaques for making #TheShowDiamondClub.

 

 

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[MMMordabito]

Pfft .. Trudeau

 

Good luck ever getting another team up there.

[Channing1964]

I am supa excited about this team...I see the flaws but man...they could be really Really Good.

[Trov]

Looking forward to tomorrow.  I expect good season for the team.  I know the Sox will try to fight us for it, but I am not sold on them as of yet.  They are top tier offense, but took a hit with losing Eloy.  They have good top starters, but two are aging and you never know when they will fall off cliff.  They have young talent, but pretty untested. The biggest downfall is their defense is terrible overall.  I think people look past defense most of the time, but it really affects the team as a whole.  It is not just the errors but the lack of getting outs really piles up over a long season.  

 

Last year Sox beat up on bad teams, but got beat up on against good teams.  Until they show they can regularly beat good teams I will still think we will take the division. Then get swept in playoffs, but we will deal with playoffs when we get there.  

[JoshDungan1]

And here I thought Guaranteed Rate Field would remain the dumbest stadium name in baseball for a long, long time. Didn't take long for that to be made completely wrong!

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

And here I thought Guaranteed Rate Field would remain the dumbest stadium name in baseball for a long, long time. Didn't take long for that to be made completely wrong!

So many things about loanDepot cause me pain.

 

Like the fact that the name uses camelcase and starts with a lowercase "L", which reads as an uppercase "i", completely confusing the user FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.

 

Or the fact that phonetically, the name sounds like "Home Depot", a much more well-known brand to users.

 

Everything about the name is laughably bad and it's some of the worst high-level branding I've ever seen in my life, particularly from a company that makes enough money to sponsor a professional sports arena.

[Squirrel]

 

And here I thought Guaranteed Rate Field would remain the dumbest stadium name in baseball for a long, long time. Didn't take long for that to be made completely wrong!

hahaha ... my response was ... 'Well, that goes well with Guaranteed Rate Field'

[Nine of twelve]

 

And here I thought Guaranteed Rate Field would remain the dumbest stadium name in baseball for a long, long time. Didn't take long for that to be made completely wrong!

Would a company with a good name pony up $$$ to have their name on the Marlins' home venue?