Saturday Camp Notes: Gibson Deals, Arcia Sticks

* Kyle Gibson tossed six scoreless innings as the Twins topped the Pirates 3-0 at Hammond Stadium, using an assortment of breaking balls to keep Pirates hitters off kilter and register eight strikeouts.

Gibson said he mixed in plenty of curve balls in the game, a pitch that he has been trying to incorporate more. The curve has not been getting the swings-and-misses like he would like to see. He did note that the pitch gets the hitters to move their hands on takes and induces weak contact.

“I think it plays my slider up a little bit,” Gibson said of the effects of throwing more curve balls. “I think the bigger break on the curve and the slider more like a fastball, I like throwing those two in the same at-bat main because the slider ends up looking like the fastball. It’s something that just throws a little bit of a wrinkle and throws their timing off.”

* In the fifth inning, Pittsburgh catcher Chris Stewart hit a grounder to shortstop Eduardo Escobar. Escobar unleashed a hard but errant throw across the diamond that seemed like it had a date with the first base stands. Byung Ho Park, in an extremely athletic manner, leapt and snagged the ball out of the air and came down to retire Stewart in time. Earlier in the game, Park also made a diving stop of a Cole Figueroa smash down the line.

“I found out early in camp that he could catch the ball,” Molitor remarked about Park’s defensive chops. “He doesn’t panic, he slows the plays down pretty well. The teaching aspect for him this spring has been more the nuances of the position that have somehow been overlooked in his development over there.”

The Twins obviously have Joe Mauer ensconced at first base and he has greatly improved his defensive capabilities at the position, but he seems rigid and still learning the position at times. Park, on the other hand, conducts his business on the field like a true defensive first baseman.

* With the six moves from this morning, the Twins are down to 29 players in camp -- 16 of whom are pitchers. The team has expressed the desire to limit the pitching staff to 12 so the next four cuts will involve pitchers. Among those on the bubble are lefties Fernando Abad, Logan Darnell and Ryan O’Rourke as well as right-handers Michael Tonkin and Brandon Kintzler as relievers. Starter hopefuls Tyler Duffey and Ricky Nolasco will pitch on Monday, with one of them joining Tommy Milone in the rotation.

Manager Paul Molitor has made it clear that the Twins intend to keep Duffey as a starter and he will not be an option of the pen in spite of being a closer in college.

* When the Twins signed Carlos Quentin to a minor league contract, they built in a June 1st opt-out date. The agreement is a common one between veteran players and the parent clubs. The Twins, however, also gave Quentin assurances that they would give him the ability to explore other employment options if they were not going to use him at the major league level.

“He’s probably gonna take a day or so to decide on what he wants to do,” Ryan said. “We certainly offered him the chance to play at Triple-A.”

The Twins were satisfied with Quentin’s contributions this spring but the numbers game was not favorable for him. “He had some good days here,” Ryan admitted. “And he stayed healthy, which is one of the concerns you might have, but we’re going to go this path at this time. Now that’s not saying that if goes to Triple-A and all of a sudden he gets going down there, there’s an opportunity to come back.”

“I think he handled himself well considering he hadn’t played for a year,” Molitor said of Quentin’s performance this spring. “He still looks like a threat in some ways and I think at-bats will help him, if he decides to go that route.”

READ: Carlos Quentin Among Six Twins Roster Cuts

* For several reasons, the Twins kept Oswaldo Arcia as the bench bat/backup outfielder over the veteran Quentin. Arcia was out of options and, despite struggling the last two years, he is teeming with promise. Arcia had been working hard this offseason to improve his approach at the plate overall, but has specifically focused on handling left-handed pitching. His two home runs in Jupiter on Thursday opened some eyes.

“He spent almost all winter here,” Ryan said. “He came in in good shape, he’s got things to prove, he did a better job this spring on defense - throwing, routes, all that stuff defensive. Obviously we’re keeping him mostly for that bat and that power. It’s his opportunity to take some quality at-bats and make that the right decision for us.”

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For his career, Arcia has hit just .231/.271/.343 against southpaws and just .164 when lefties attacked the outer-third of the strike zone. Both home runs came on balls on the outer-half, showing some indications that the left-handed swinger may be turning a corner.

Arcia's inclusion raised questions regarding Molitor’s ability to get some players regular at-bats, something that young hitters like Arcia need to build confidence.

“I haven’t thought about how much I am going to play him,” Molitor said. “I do know that I like to keep people involved, particularly early.”

* Twins bullpen coach Eddie Guardado says he likes to keep things simple with his relievers when it comes to making adjustments. “I don’t like to go in there and fix a damn engine when you only need to change a spark plug.”

* It was pointed out to Trevor Plouffe this week that he had not hit fastballs well in 2016. According to ESPN/TruMedia, Plouffe’s .220 batting average against fastballs was the fourth lowest among qualified hitters. The previous year he had hit .282 while driving 23 doubles (compared to 14 in 2015) on heaters last year. So why the big difference? Were pitchers attacking him differently? Was he hunting after sliders? Plouffe was surprised by the data and had no explanation for the sudden decline. A day later in Port Charlotte, Plouffe launched two mammoth home runs. When asked if those came on fastballs, he just smiled and nodded. Narrative busted.

The Twins like Plouffe’s ability to take professional at-bats as a cleanup hitter. “He’s capable for hitting in that slot because he can get a hit and he can hit it over the fence every now and then. I don’t think it fazes him much,” Molitor said of Plouffe. Ryan echoed that sentiment saying Plouffe was “about the ideal guy” to hit behind Sano in order to keep pitchers honest.

* The Twins travel to Tampa tomorrow to face the New York Yankees where Phil Hughes, Ryan Pressly and Fernando Abad will throw. The minor leagues will have inter-squad games at 10 AM on the backfields.