Seth Stohs

He's there. Saw him the last couple of mornings. Looks good. The goal is still for him to be ready for opening day.

In his second start, Jose Berrios worked three scoreless innings. On a cold night in Ft. Myers, the Twins bats were also kept quiet. The Twins lost 2-0 to give former bench coach Derek Shelton his first managerial win.The Twins were ready for Derek Shelton to return to Hammond Stadium. When the Twins were done with batting practice, the Pittsburgh Pirates came onto the field for their pregame work. When Shelton came out, he was met in the middle of the infield by a large contingent of Twins, starting with Rocco Baldelli. Derek Falvey wished him well. Shelton was given hugs by many Twins personnel. In addition, there were a few photos put into a slide show format on the stadiums video board. In addition, several chatted with Rick Eckstein, the Pirates hitting coach. He was the Twins minor league hitting coordinator in 2018 before getting the Pirates job before the 2019 season. Even after the Pirates made a change with their manager, Eckstein retained his job. Jose Berrios started and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two batters. It took him a little to get going at the beginning. "I tried to do the same thing I did last time. Throwing my four-seam fastball. Using the changeup, too. Trying to throw good changeups. But in the beginning, the first inning, I had issues with the grip because of the weather. Because I was thinking about it, I was being too fast with my first side. But other than that, I felt good about the outing." In addition, Berrios was working on a couple of things. "Yeah. I threw a couple of fastballs well, running up. That's something we've been practicing so far in spring training." He is also working on a spiked curveball, the more 12-6 variety, to go with his sweeping slider. It's something that his manager thinks will really help him, especially working in concert with his elevated fastball. Said Baldelli, "Being able to use those pitches off of each other, I think, is certainly a trick that Jose is aware of, and he's used, but I think he's still perfecting that kind of stuff and gaining even more feel for it. He can definitely sweep that breaking ball across the zone and that can be effective for some hitters, but if he can also be able to spin it up and down. We're talking slight adjustments here, but if he can do some different things with the breaking ball, that can come in in a useful way." Berrios said that he spent some time with Alex Avila after his outing. "After our outing, we talked and obviously, it's the first time we've played together. He said, 'The more I know you, the more comfortable it will be for me.' Today, I think we did great work." Asked if he and his staff has strategically aligned pitchers and catchers who have not worked with each other to work with each other early in camp, Baldelli said, "Yes. It doesn't always work out [perfectly where you get to match everybody up with exactly who you want them to work with. But I think it is important. know Wes and Mac and Bill also think it is important. We will ty to get Alex out there with as many of our pitchers as we possibly can throughout the spring. Hopefully he sees everyone. Hopefully he will see most of them multiple times. And the same with Bailey and Kenta with all of our guys, just trying to get feel for all these guys. It starts in the bullpens early on in camp and goes into live b.p. then obviously real games The more they can work together the better off we are going to be once the season starts." Littell Velocity Do Hyoung Park from twinsbaseball.com chatted with Zack Littell about his bullpen role. He told pitching coach Wes Johnson that he wants to hit 100 mph. Littell has really taken to the bullpen role. On Saturday night, he tossed two scoreless innings and struck out three. Nelson Cruz(es) Several of the players kids were in the clubhouse before the game on Saturday night. Nelson Cruz's son - also Nelson - was pretty involved in the night. When the Twins were taking infield practice, he was in line with the other Twins third basemen and fielded grounders and made the throws to (or most of the way to) second or first base. Whatever the other guys were doing. They stood together for the national anthem, and Nelson (the younger) got to spend time as a bat boy. Notes Rocco Baldelli did say that Jorge Polanco is expected to start at DH on Sunday afternoon. It will mark his first game of the spring. Marwin Gonzalez is expected to make his first appearance this week as well. Please feel free to ask questions. I've done several interviews and I have several more planned. They definitely won't all be published by the time I leave here next week. One thing is for sure. We will have a lot of pictures to use with the Twins Daily articles. Be sure to follow Twins Daily on Twitter. Click here to view the article

Homers were a big part of the Twins spring training story on Friday afternoon at Hammond Stadium. Homer Bailey made his first appearance in a Twins uniform. Alex Kirilloff’s seventh inning, two-run homer gave the Twins a little insurance.Homer Bailey signed a one-year deal with the Twins around the holidays. On Friday, he made his first appearance of spring. He worked two innings. He didn’t allow a run. He got two quick outs in the top of the first inning. JD Martinez hit a fly ball to right center. Bailey started walking off the field, thinking the inning was over. But the wind was blowing hard from left to right and the ball just kept going. LaMonte Wade leapt at the wall and robbed a home run. However, when his arm hit the wall, the ball trickled away. Martinez ended up on third base. But soon after, Bailey got a lazy fly ball to center for the third out. “I was actually walking off the mound, thinking it was a right-center gap, guy’s going to catch it on the run, inning over. Then you look the flag pole you see everything was drifting off to right field quite a bit. Big deal.” He continued, “I say ‘Big Deal, but if the next guy gets a single, I’m (upset) about it.” Baldelli,”He's a pretty gifted young hitter. This is a guy that's always had good at- bats, can find the barrel on different pitches in the zone. He can do some pretty nifty things the way he attacks the ball. He would have what you probably call the opposite of a grooved swing. He can do different things, and find different angles, and find the barrel. So, he hit that one really well. We were just talking about him a little bit in the dugout right as he was taking the swing, and we saw it. Got a chance to see it live. Really nice.“ On Saturday night, the Pirates come to Hammond Stadium to play the Twins. Baldelli said that Kirilloff is scheduled to play against his hometown team. “That's always fun, anytime anyone gets a chance to play...and the game's probably on, really all the games are on TV now. For a while, it was when you played the team from the hometown, that's when everyone got a chance to see you play, everyone from back home. So that's always a fun thing.” Nick Gordon Update Nick Gordon is yet to play in spring training games. He is working and at the ballpark each day. He is experiencing a gastrointestinal issue again this spring. Baldelli said after the game, “I can’t tell you that it’s the exact same issue but the way that it’s probably affecting him is probably somewhat similar.” “He’s been regaining strength and trying to gain some weight and start to feel better before he starts getting back to full baseball activities. So I can’t tell you that he’s fully there yet. We’re not pushing him to get him out on the field as fast as possible. It’s February. There’s no rush to really get him out there until he feels 100 percent and his body’s functioning right.” It’s really unfortunate for Gordon because there is no doubt he would be getting a lot of playing time this spring. Josh Donaldson Talking Shop Josh Donaldson went 1-for-3 on Friday. It was his first hit of the spring. He hit a double to the right-center field gap. So if you were worried about him not ever getting a hit during his career with the Twins, you can sigh a deep breath. Today was my first full day in Ft. Myers and at spring training, so I am last to this. However, what was really impressive to me, a half-hour after the game, we left the manager’s office and into the clubhouse. At a table, Donaldson was holding court with three Twins minor leaguers, talking hitting. Now I didn’t stand there and observe, but in the six seconds that I did see, all three players were glued to his every word. Click here to view the article

No, he's not. He's not even an official Non-Roster invite.

It was the thing that frustrated fans early in the careers of Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer too.

I saw you promoting this this morning, Ted... gotta admit, I assumed that you were going to write about May and Duffey... I like Littell a lot, but does this mean you already think Duffey is there?

If there was an injury the first half of the season, he would be the guy called up. Jeffers and Rortvedt need time. Telis hit .330 last year in AAA and has played in parts of 5 seasons in the big leagues. He's nice insurance. Well, depending on how long the catcher was out. If it was really short-term, they could get by with Astudillo as the #2.

Watching Killer in Plain Sight on Hulu right now (tonight)... solid crime show. Watched seasons 1, 2, 5 and 6 of Who's the Boss on Roku Channel. party of five, of course... and all-new season of The Walking Dead started last night.

Takeaways... 1.) watching spring training is the best! 2.) Watching prospects play is awesome, especially when the announcers aren't sure who they are (but you have a Twins Prospect Handbook so you know who they are). 3.) Nothing on the field can be taken away from 3 games though...

Keep playing him at AAA, and if an opportunity arises, consider him. He's got things to work on.

What is Duran's height issue? He's 6-5...

The Twins have a fairly veteran, proven roster as they head into the 2020 season. However, most seasons someone comes up during the season and unexpectedly contributes important at-bats or innings to the Twins. There’s no doubt that player was Luis Arraez in 2019. So who will be the choice in 2020?About a week ago, I posted a tweet asking people to tweet me their choice for Twins breakout player in 2020. I defined that as someone who has not yet established himself as a big leaguer. It’s a loose definition intentionally, but the general idea is someone who hasn’t played in the big leagues or has very limited time who becomes a key contributor for the Twins in 2020. I received about 50 responses to that tweet, and over 20 players were mentioned. Randy Dobnak, Lewis Thorpe and Ryan Jeffers were mentioned most frequently. Jake Cave was also mentioned a lot, though he’s got two half seasons of solid contribution to the Twins big league club under his belt. The funny thing is, at least in my opinion, that the player that I would pick was not mentioned by anyone. Not even once. That tells me that my choice certainly fits the category of being an unexpected contributor to the 2020 Twins. However, I expect that once he gets a shot, he has the ability to be really good. My choice is right-handed pitcher Sean Poppen. The Background Poppen, a Virginia native, was the Twins 19th-round draft pick in 2016 out of Harvard where he was a starter for four years. His majors? Chemistry, Physics and Engineering Studies. In other words, he’s smart. The Stats 2016: Elizabethton/Cedar Rapids: 12 G, 11 GS, 53.1 IP, 3-4, 2.70 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9, 9.6 K/9 2017: Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers: 25 GS, 139.0 IP, 9-4, 3.17 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 1.6 BB/9, 7.9 K/9 2018: Ft. Myers/Chattanooga: 26 G, 20 GS, 127.2 IP, 6-9, 3.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.7 K/9 2019: Pensacola/Rochester: 20 G, 16 GS, 89.2 IP, 7-4, 4.01 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 4.4 BB/9, 10.7 K/9 2019 Twins: 4 G, 0 GS, 8.1 IP, 0-0, 7.56 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 5.4 BB/9, 9.7 K/9 The Stuff While the MLB stats don’t look that great, he provided the Twins with some innings when they needed them. He became part of that Rochester-to-Minnesota pipeline. In my opinion, Poppen passes the eye test in terms of stuff. First, his fastball is electric. When he was drafted, he was touching 91 mph at times. When I saw him in Cedar Rapids in 2017, I saw him hit 92 and 93 at times. With the Twins in 2019, he was 93 to 97 mph. And more important than just the velocity, he gets a ton of movement, arm-side run that darts in on a right-hander. In addition, he has a very sharp, mid-80s slider that he threw about 40% of the time. As much as his fastball darts in on a righty, his slider is sharp and darts away from a right-hander. If he is able to tunnel his pitches at all, the combination of those two pitches could be a nightmare for opposing hitters. Poppen also throws a changeup. If he is to progress as a starter, that will be a key pitch for him. It is low-to-mid 80s but it has been inconsistent at times. One thing that immediately impressed me the first time I saw him pitch was how quickly he was able to adjust within a game. The Role? That is the question, to be sure. Because of all of the Twins starting pitching depth, I think it would be difficult for Poppen to get an opportunity as a starter. (Berrios. Odorizzi. Maeda. Bailey. Chacin. Thorpe. Dobnak. Smeltzer. Pineda. Hill.) Right now Poppen likely finds himself behind all of those guys. As a four-year college player who has slowly developed and moved one level per season, he will turn 26 years old in mid-March. While I am generally one to advocate using pitchers as starters as long as possible, now might just be the time for Poppen to become a reliever. While he is a quality starting pitching prospect, he is a max effort pitcher who might just be better suited for shorter stints. While I think his dynamic stuff could make him a great one-inning guy, his ability to go three or four innings might be exactly what the 2020 Twins need. Concerns Poppen has never really worked out of the bullpen in pro ball. I think this is pretty minor in terms of concerns. Another concern could certainly be his command. With as much movement as he gets, being able to control, much less command, his pitches has to be a challenge. Big leaguers will make him throw strikes. Poppen was placed on the Rochester Injured List on August 13th because of a right elbow contusion. On September 1st, he was promoted to the Twins and placed on the 60-day injured list. The move allowed the Twins to add another player to their 40-man roster. However, Poppen appears to be 100% now. In fact, on Saturday, he struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Summary I don’t expect Sean Poppen to make the Twins Opening Day roster. However, I think he will get a shot at some point during the season to come up and work out of the bullpen. I think he’s got the kind of stuff that could make him a force out of the Twins bullpen. And just for fun... here is his bio in the 2020 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. You can get your copies here. It's a great tool for Twins fans, especially during spring training when prospects play in big-league games. Prices have been dropped for both the paperback version and the electronic version (immediate download). What do you think of Sean Poppen as a 2020 Twins Breakout candidate? Click here to view the article

The news from the Twins today is that Romero is likely to miss most, if not all, of spring training due to the visa issues.

I don't like Chacin as a candidate because I feel like he was brought in to be the 5th starter, like it's his to lose... I think Blaine Hardy and Caleb Thielbar are the favorites in my opinion to make the roster.

Correct. College games are 9 innings, unless there is a double-header. Then it's two seven inning games, same as minor league baseball.

He's been married for over 2 years...

I'll be shocked if Nelson Cruz plays on Sunday. Last year, he didn't play in games for awhile. They will start most of their starters, but not all. It's a home game.

When these two teams played 3 years ago, the Twins won a one-run game (maybe 2-1 or something). And the Gophers would never throw their best starters in an exhibition game, even if the schedule was different. That said, it would have been fun to see former Twins draft pick Max Meyer throwing 95-99 at the Twins prospects... My hope is that Meyer will be available still when the Twins make their first-round pick in June! it's too bad it got out of hand early with the Gophers pitcher walking (and hitting) guys (probably really nervous), but i wish the Twins and Gophers would do this every year instead of every three years. And I wish it would have been on TV!

FYI... Kirilloff's wife had a baby today. That is why he was not in the lineup tonight. Pretty good reason, I'd say.

Kirilloff not listed in the lineup now... replaced in it by Jimmy Kerrigan.

As I’m writing this, it's a Wednesday night which means I am watching an all-new episode of the Party of Five reboot on Freeform. At Twins Fest last month, I had a chance to sit down and chat with Twins Hall of Famer Eddie Guardado on a couple of occasions and talk about a number of topics including his family, Party of Five, and also The Eddie Guardado Foundation.Eddie Guardado was the Minnesota Twins 21st-round draft pick in 1990 out of San Joaquin Delta College. He moved up the Twins minor league system as a starting pitcher and debuted in June of 1993. He played for the Twins from 1993 through the 2003 season and then returned in an August 2008 trade from the Rangers. "Everyday Eddie" got his nickname in 1996 when he pitched in 83 games for the Twins. He became a reliable bullpen arm, and late in 2001, he became the team’s closer. In 2002 and 2003, he combined to record 86 saves and was an All-Star both years. He played six more major-league seasons, spending time with the Mariners, Reds, Rangers and a short stint with the Twins. In total, he pitched in 908 MLB games (24th all-time, a spot he won’t fall from for at least a few years). In 2013, Guardado became a member of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. When Rod Carew and Dave St. Peter called to give him the news, he was shocked. It was completely unexpected. “Rod, is this a joke? I was so ecstatic. I called my wife and told her. It’s a privilege, just look at the names that have come through here. I’m honored just to sit next to them.” Guardado was the Twins bullpen coach from 2015 through 2018. That’s the stuff that Twins fans already know about Eddie Guardado. As we sat there talking, I found myself chuckling, thinking to myself, I’m talking parenting and parental pride with Twins Hall of Famer Eddie Guardado. And wow, Eddie’s pride in his family was easy to see and hear. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Last spring, the first episode of the Get to Know ‘Em podcast was an interview with Guardado’s eldest son, Niko Guardado, who had just been cast into one of the lead roles on the new Party of Five television show. One of Niko’s first stories in that podcast was about how before he could go out on the field (before games at the Metrodome) and play and shag fly balls, he had to do some work in the clubhouse. Eddie said, “That’s just being a parent. It’s trying to teach the right things. It’s not always this glorious in life. You come to the ballpark. Your dad puts on a big-league uniform. He plays baseball for a living. It’s not like that for everybody. It’s life lessons.” So Niko and his siblings had to clean shoes, fold towels and other jobs in the clubhouse. Eddie noted, “Niko could come in (the clubhouse today) and be hired. He’d know what he was doing.” Patrick Mahomes did the same. Torii Hunter’s sons did some jobs in the clubhouse. And those kids are finding success as well in their fields and their lives. Niko’s field happens to be in front of a camera. “Niko’s done a great job. He has been doing this for a long time.” His first job was in the Twin Cities doing a Target billboard at age two. ------------------------------------------------------- It was late in 2001 when the Guardado family moved to Anaheim. After the Twins playoff series ended at the hands of Adam Kennedy and the eventual World Series champion Angels, Guardado drove his car back to Anaheim. “I get home. I took Niko to school, which I loved. All of a sudden, on every corner, there’s a rally monkey. Really! Really!” ------------------------------------------------- In the Get to Know ‘Em podcast with Niko Guardado, he told us that he remembers the day that he and Eddie had a chat, and Niko said he wanted to be an actor instead of a baseball player. Eddie remembers it too. “I will never forget it. Those were life lessons for me too as a parent. I remember it clearly.” Guardado recalls a story of going to one of his son’s fall ball games and watching Niko pitch at age 10 or 11. He was walking guys left and right. “Walking the bases like a merry-go-round has to stop.” Eddie came out to the mound to take his son out of the game. “I looked back, and he had tears in his eyes.” After the game, they got in the car, Eddie said, “Hey mijo, let me ask you a question. Do you like baseball or do you love baseball?” Niko responded, “I like baseball.” Eddie said, “But you don’t love it.” “No, but I like it.” “See, the difference is, I love baseball. But you’re not dad. You’re you. You have to find your own path. Don’t play because dad’s playing, to make me proud. I’m proud of you no matter what. You’re my son. I’m proud of you.” He continued, “Do you really want to play this game? You don’t have to. You do what you want to do. He told me ‘No’. Alright then, but you’re going to do something.” And then the tears flowed for both Guardados. Eddie admitted, “Made me tear up. I had to pull the car over. I’ll never forget that.” Niko found something to do. “Then he took on acting, and he did it.” ----------------------------------------------------------- Another lesson Niko said that he learned from his father was that you’re not going to have your best stuff every day. You’re going to have bad games, and you have to bounce back from them. Likewise, Niko learned that there can be a lot of tough days in the audition process, a lot of rejections. Eddie said, “It’s worse than baseball.” So when Niko started getting jobs and being on TV, it was another source of pride for Eddie and his whole family. “We watch every episode. We record every episode. It’s a proud moment, no matter what role it was. When he first started it was a little bit, and then it started picking up a tad. It’s like starting in rookie ball and then moving up to Elizabethton, Tennessee. You made a step forward.” Some of those appearances don’t even show up on the Internet Movie Database. Eddie recalls,“His first one... he was on Santa Clause 2, in the background. Oh, there he is, and we were so excited. Two seconds.” But Niko kept working, kept going to auditions, and kept getting opportunities. “(He) kept going forward. Pushing. Pushing. Started getting more parts. The Goldbergs. He started getting a bunch of commercials.” Niko continued to mature. He understood when he didn’t get the roles he hoped for. It was still frustrating, but there were also successes. And when he found those successes, Eddie was there to provide him with some words that Twins fans remember hearing often from Tom Kelly. “He’s older. He’s got more confidence. He’s learning. There are aspects of failure, or the good in it. No matter what, stay even keel. Don’t get too high. Don’t get too low. And NEVER forget who you are.” Eddie continued, “I think as a parent, you see him on TV, it’s like wow! You have a major role. I’m so proud. My wife is so proud. His brother, and his sister are so proud.” ------------------------------------------------------------------ The pilot for Party of Five and Episode 2 aired on Freeform on January 8th. A few days earlier, Niko and the rest of the Party of Five cast went to New York City for an . While there, Niko walked through Time Square. He recalled (on his instagram story) walking through Time Square a decade earlier after a Twins playoff loss to the Yankees and thinking, “Someday, I’ll be up on one of those billboards.” He looked up, and there it was. courtesy Niko Guardado's Instagram Eddie shook his head as he recalled the story, clearly emotional and clearly filled with pride. When they talked on the phone after that moment, Eddie told him what you would expect a father to tell his son… “Keep that mentality. As a parent, you always have to stress to keep it right here (even-keeled). Good for you. When I hung up, I was just like ‘Oh my.” ------------------------------------------------ In the original Party of Five, five children were left parent-less after a car accident took their parents’ lives. In the new Party of Five, the five Acosta children see their parents deported to Mexico. It is a subject that hits close to home for Eddie Guardado. “That’s what really is going on in life. I’m Mexican. My parents are from Mexico. My dad came over, worked in the fields. One of the first scenes of the show, when they get deported, it reminded me of my dad. My dad didn’t get deported, but I can imagine. We didn’t go through that. But that really hit home because it’s happening. Imagine your kids are taken away from you. I’d go crazy. That’s just the way it is.” The families of the cast and crew were able to come to the studio and watch the premiere episode in a theater weeks before it aired on television. “I was bawling. I’m not going to lie. We were all in a theater in the studio. We got a peak of it. I needed tissues. All you heard was whimpering. Mijo, you did good. It was good.” Party of Five is on at 8:00 central time Wednesday nights on Freeform. “Wednesday is a special day. Everybody gets home. I cook dinner, and we watch.” “The show is a good hit. It’s life, and it’s good.” ------------------------------------------------- Speaking of pride, Eddie is very proud of his wife, Lisa. “We don’t talk about them (wives/moms). We talk about me. We talk about Niko. Nobody talks about wives, which we should do more. I’ve been married 25 years. Same high school. Same neighborhood. Same upbringing. Couldn't have picked a better lady. There’s no better lady. She has done a fabulous job.” -------------------------------------------------- Eddie is also very proud of his son Jakob, who is a high school senior. “He loves baseball.” “Dad, can we go hit? Let’s do it! Couple guys, can you throw to them? I enjoy that! It’s like a little mini-spring training. Four or five guys I work out, and I love it.” ------------------------------------------------------- Eight years ago, Eddie and Lisa Guardado kicked off the Eddie Guardado Foundation. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children with autism and their families. The Guardado’s youngest child, Ava, was diagnosed with autism in 2008. “We try to help families that can’t afford therapy for their kids. Just put a little into their life because it’s not easy. My wife came up with the idea. We raise good money. That might be the best part of what I’ve done in my life. Obviously my kids first. I love them. But beside them, making a phone call to give a person an iPad, or build a fence around their yard so that their kid can go out and play. To hear these people cry on the other end. I’m tearing up. Probably the best feeling in the world.” He continued, “It’s not a cure. It’s not for research. These families need help right now.” After spending Friday and Saturday of Twins Fest signing autographs and thanking fans, Guardado attended the 5th Annual Stars & Strikes bowling event. Eddie and Niko, as well as Niko’s Party of Five co-star Emily Tosta, hosted the event. Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young and many more former big league stars were in attendance. Just as many Hollywood stars also participated in the event including Party of Five's Elle Paris Legaspi, Brandon Larracuente, and Sol Rodriguez. According to Guardado, the event was “Sold out. We raised money and everybody is there for a good reason.” ------------------------------------------------------ CHALLENGE - I donated $100 to the Eddie Guardado Foundation tonight. It was quick and easy. Please consider donating as well, in any amount you feel comfortable with. Donate here. Follow Niko Guardado on Instagram and Twitter. Click here to view the article