Seth Stohs

He spent all of last year in AA Chattanooga.

I'll update the article, but all four optioned players were optioned to Rochester.

(Updated with quotes from Twins manager Paul Molitor on all eight players.) On Saturday morning, the Minnesota Twins cut their roster by another eight players. With just over two weeks before spring training, the team still has several moves to make. High-level prospects Zack Granite, Mitch Garver, Nick Gordon and Daniel Palka were among those cut this morning. The Twins now have 48 players in camp, 25 pitchers, four catchers, 12 infielders and seven outfielders. There are still 16 non-roster players (7 pitchers, 2 catchers, 5 infielders and 2 outfielders).In the clubhouse, players shook hands, gave man-hugs and wished the players sent out best wishes, often encouraging them to keep working and that they hope to see them in the big leagues soon. For several, that is a real possibility. Following Saturday's game, Molitor noted, "We're looking at our departure in less than two weeks. We're trying to do some reduction here." The Minnesota Twins optioned infielder Engelb Vielma, outfielders Zack Granite and Daniel Palka and catcher Mitch Garver to Rochester. They also reassigned infielders Niko Goodrum, Nick Gordon and Leonardo Reginnato and catcher Dan Rohlfing to minor league camp. Zack Granite was the Twins minor league player of the year in 2016 and continued to make a good showing. He certainly impressed his manager and teammates. He played quite a bit, going 6-28 (.231) with a double. He played all three outfield positions. The outlook is certainly positive for Granite. He should start the season in Rochester and has a chance to get to the big leagues if there is an injury. Molitor Note: "I like Zack a lot. I like how he prepares. I like how he competes. It was good to watch him play. He got into actually a lot of games. Made an impression almost every day he played in some capacity." Daniel Palka was the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year. He struggled early in camp but came on of late. Palka went 3-18 (.167) with a double and a home run in camp. Palka also should start the season in Rochester. He'll need to work on putting the ball in play more frequently, but his immense power makes him intriguing later in the season. Molitor Note: "I thought Palka really handled himself great. He had a bit of a label of practicing his swing in the outfield kind of guy. He got his focus on. Pick got to him a little bit. We heard there might be some adventures out there, I didn't see it. I saw a guy who tracked balls, had good first step and did some things. Had good at bats. I think he leads our team in walks. I think he's got to learn to hit a little better. And there's that power. You can tell that he's a threat. People are really more careful when he's in the box. Those two outfielders handled themselves well." Mitch Garver will head to AAA with a good shot at getting to the big league club in 2017. Garver went 3-13 (.231) with two doubles this spring. Garver should also head to Rochester, where he ended last year. He will do a lot of catching, but when he's not catching, expect to see him continue to get time at first base and DH as well. Molitor noted, "Mitch, I'm very pleased with him. He didn't get a great opportunity here, but what I saw, I continue to like." Shortstop Engelb Vielma was added to the 40-man roster. He didn't play a lot. He went 2-12 (.167) with a double. Obviously a great defender, he could go to Rochester or play in Chattanooga. Molitor Note: "Vielma just needs to get stronger. He can do things you can't really teach with the glove. He just has to make sure he doesn't get sloppy now and then and keep things clean. The defensive player of the year. Brad told him to defend his title." Of the non-roster players sent down, Nick Gordon is the biggest prospect. He had a good showing in big league camp, doing well at second base and shortstop and at the plate. He's got some work to do, but he'll get every day playing time at shortstop in Chattanooga. He went 2-11 (.182) in eight games in spring training. He told me earlier this week that he gained a lot of confidence after his Arizona Fall League season, and gained even more throughout spring training. He said he learned a lot. Molitor Note: "Nick Gordon, maybe one of our best hitting prospects that we have, if you ask me. It was good to see him play. He didn't get a lot of chance, but I think he absorbed a lot. Got the chance to play some at short and second." Niko Goodrum had a nice camp too, at least when he wasn't battling a shoulder issue. He had a big, three-run homer in the game on Wednesday. He showed the ability to play all around the diamond. He went 6-16 (.375) this spring. I thought Goodrum would likely start the season with the Lookouts, and that's probably still the likely scenario, but he did have a very nice showing in big league camp and should move up to AAA at some point in the season. Molitor Note: Niko Goodrum had a shoulder issue midway through camp, but he showed versatility. I really encouraged him to embrace that rather than wondering why he can't find a position because it has value and can open more doors for him. He showed some things." Leonardo Reginnato also had to pack his (WBC-issued) bag this morning. The native of Brazil was on his country's WBC-Qualifier team last spring. He can play both positions on the left side of the diamond. Reginnato went 9-17 this spring (.529). He ended last season in Rochester, and should start there this year. Molitor Note: "Similar to Niko. Doesn't play as many positions, but he still has to be versatile and contribute." Finally, catcher Dan Rohlfing was sent down. It will be interesting to see where he goes, and if he is asked to work with some of the Twins top pitching prospects. He showed a little power this spring again, and he is a very good athlete behind the plate. He went 2-11 (.182) with a home run. Both of his hits came this week. Molitor Note: Rohlfing returned to the organization. "He didn't get much of a chance. He's hopefully going to get a significant amount of playing time wherever he would go. He needs to play." MORE FROM MOLITOR Asked if Gordon can stick at shortstop, Molitor said, "We'll see how it matches up with he and Vielma if they're on the same team. We could split them, and we've got other guys who can play short. I would never say that he's not going to develop into potentially being a shortstop. I mean, that's what he's played. Athletes like that, you want to give them every opportunity to work, I would think. But to get some more experience on the other side of the base would be helpful. I think he only started a handful of games at second last year and one at third. Primarily that's been his spot. Maybe it's only two spots, but you want to make sure that you've got more doors open. I mean, I would want to. You just have to make sure that these seeds are planted so that they don't lose confidence if they're not playing the position they thought they might be.Asked if Rohlfing can be an asset working with pitching prospects, Molitor said, "He's been challenged to follow the role of a guy like (Chris) Gimenez who has made himself valuable by being a good leader, by being a good teammate, by being able to help develop pitchers. They both have a some versatility and can play first base and left field a little bit. He was very clear the first meeting early on that he hasn't given up his dream of playing in the big leagues. So I encourage that. Didn't give you a great chance here, but go out there and keep yourself on the (radar)." Click here to view the article

Aaron Slegers found out on Monday morning that his spring training time with the big league Twins had come to an end, but he didn’t sulk. He enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to what could be and exciting 2017 season for him. Slegers was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2013 out of Indiana after a season in which he was named the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Year. He has moved up the organizational ladder exactly in the way you would expect. He finished 2013 in Elizabethton. He spent most of 2014 in Low Class-A Cedar Rapids. He spent most of 2015 in High Class-A Ft. Myers, ending the year with a handful of starts in Chattanooga. That’s where he spent his 2016 season. In 25 starts, he went 10-7 with a 3.41 ERA. In 145.1 innings, he walked 2.8 per nine and struck out 6.4 batters per nine innings. At one point in the middle of the season, he had a stretch of nine straight Quality Starts.Slegers called 2016 a “successful year, minus the three weeks in July.” He prides himself in his ability to take the ball and provide innings. “I was able to take the ball every fifth day and be as consistent as possible.” He continued, pointing out that he wants to be reliable. “That’s what I see from myself in the big leagues, taking the ball every fifth day and be an innings eater. The manager knows what he’s going to get on an every fifth day bases, a spot of consistency in a big league pitching rotation.” Unfortunately, he wasn’t added to the Twins 40-man roster in November. I know there was a lot of concern that he might be selected in the Rule 5 draft. Slegers himself was not opposed to the idea of being selected, as his 2016 Lookouts teammate and battery mate Stuart Turner was. However, the draft came and went, and Slegers remained in the organization. Several in the organization took a deep breath in relief. Shortly after the calendar turned to 2017, Slegers received a call from Twins Minor League Director Brad Steil informing him he was invited to Twins big league spring training as a non-roster player. As you would expect, Slegers was very excited and appreciative, and quickly accepted. When asked about his experience, he summarized briefly by saying “It was fun.” But, Slegers actually broke up his experience in big league camp into two parts. “The first week, I was kind of staying to myself and observing and seeing how things were done and how the various veterans and the guys who have been there before go about their business. Which was a great experience and I’m glad I did that.” That makes sense, the Be Seen But Not Heard approach. However, he continued, “Then I transitioned into being more proactive and asking questions. A few of those guys, like Matt Belisle and Ryan Vogelsong and Brandon Kintzler, were extremely helpful. When I would show myself to guys like Belisle, that I wanted to learn and I’d ask things he was working on, he was more than receptive to show me what he was working on and expand on things he’d learned in the past. He really made himself available and approachable on a daily basis.” Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine often talked about bringing in veteran leadership. Following the signing of Belisle, it was reiterated, that he was a quality person and a nice leader for younger players. While those things aren’t necessarily visible to the public, this is a good example of what a veteran can do to assist a younger player on the roster. When the Twins sent Slegers back to minor league camp, manager and Hall of Famer Paul Molitor was very complimentary of the right-hander. Molitor said, "Slegers came even better than advertised for me. I'd heard a lot of very positive things about makeup. But the way that he threw the ball was good." Reports on Slegers will say that he throws a fastball that sits 90-92 mph. However, he has the ability to hit 94 and even 95 at times. He’s got a good sinker and slider, and a still-developing changeup. It is the changeup that likely will determine how good Slegers can be at the next level. He knows he can rely on his “two-seam sinkers to righties and lefties,” but “when I have the changeup working, throwing it 15-20 times per start, it really seems to pay off for me.” Earlier in his career, he was mostly a fastball/slider pitcher, but last year in Chattanooga, his pitching coach and manager really encouraged him to utilize and develop the changeup. Slegers points out, “From my A ball outings in Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, it was mostly fastballs and sliders, and the changeup was mostly on the backburner. When I worked with (Lookouts pitching coach) Ivan (Arteaga) and (Lookouts manager) Doug (Mientkeiwicz), getting the changeup around twenty times a game. I don’t put quotas on myself. Obviously, there are different mixes of righties and lefties in a lineup, but when the hitter has a different look after seeing the sinker, and then I throw the changeup behind it, it seems to be effective.” He’s coming off of a very nice season in AA Chattanooga. He’s been able to spend nearly a month in Twins big league spring training. He has a couple of goals in mind. First, Slegers said, “(I want to) refine my craft as a starter, pitch calling and going deep into games and continue taking the ball every fifth day.” On another tier, Slegers has a lofty, but achievable goal. “I see myself getting in the conversation to get to the big leagues at some point this year. There are certain things out of spring training, where I break, that I can’t control. Wherever I might be at a certain point in the season, but just force the hand and get myself into that conversation.” There is no reason for him to return to AA Chattanooga in 2017, so he should start for the Red Wings every fifth day. Aaron Slegers has been very consistent since the Twins drafted him. For the most part, he has remained healthy. He didn’t sulk when he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster in November and earned an invitation to big league spring training. He took advantage of his time in camp, and looks to put the things he’s learned into action in 2017. Click here to view the article

I would say that some do. And I would agree that he has learned a lot from Dee and Tom about the game and how to handle things... I'd say early in his career more people used his pedigree/genes as a reason he was going to be good... but like I said I think he stands fully on his own at this point.

No one used his lineage as support for a ranking anymore. He's had 2+ seasons of pro ball of his own to go off of at this point. When people mention it, it's just for background information.

He's not Vielma good, but that's a pretty high scale. Gordon is good. A little better than average range. Average or a little better than average arm. Good instincts. He's good.

This week, the Gophers are making a California swing before getting started with Big Ten play next weekend. They played a single game on Tuesday night at California-Berkeley, and last night they began a three-game series at Sacramento State. Find out more about those games and what’s coming up, but first, here is a Q&A with Gophers senior outfielder Jordan Smith.Smith came to the Gophers after a strong high school career at Eden Prairie. He also was a big Twins fan and is getting the opportunity to live out a dream by playing for the Gophers. Let’s get to know him. Get to know Jordan Smith Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Eden Prairie, were you a big Twins fan? Did you get to many games? Who were some of your favorite ballplayers? Jordan Smith (JS): When I was younger I was a huge Twins fan. I really enjoyed the teams they had in the early 2000s. Guys such as Jacque Jones, Christian Guzman, and Johan Santana were some of my favorite players. SS: What were some of the highlights of your high school career? JS: During my junior year, my legion team won the 2011 American Legion World Series. We had lost our first game I believe 13-1 and ended up winning 6 straight games in 4 days. It was an unbelievable run and something I will never forget. SS: What was it about the University of Minnesota that made you decide to play for the Gophers? JS: I always wanted to play for the Gophers growing up so when I had the opportunity to play here it was an easy choice. I was very comfortable with the coaching staff and I knew a majority of the players coming in with me along with players already on the team. SS: Have you played summer ball through your college years? JS: My true freshman summer I played for the Chaska Cubs. The following summer I played for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League. The last two summers I have not played summer ball due to an injury and an internship commitment. SS: What have been some of the highlights of your time with the Gophers? JS: A moment that I really enjoyed last year was celebrating our Big Ten championship on the field after beating Ohio State. Along with that, playing in a regional tournament was really sweet too. The atmosphere of postseason baseball is something not every player will get to experience during their career so that was something special. SS: What are your goals for the 2017 season? JS: Continue to get better every single day and to make sure each game we compete at a high level. If we are able to do this, I know we can build upon last years season and advance to not just a super-regional, but a trip to Omaha to win a national championship which is the ultimate goal. SS: What is your major, and what are your career goals going forward? (How does baseball fit into that equation?) JS: My major is sport management, and I am not really sure what I want to do yet. Something involved in the sports industry would be my main goal. Maybe win the lottery… GOPHER NOTES On Tuesday at Berkeley, the Gophers lost a 7-1 decision. They managed just three hits. Luke Pettersen went 1-3 and drove in the lone run. Last night (Thursday), the Gophers fell 3-2 to Sacramento State. Lucas Gilbreath made the start and had his best showing of the season. The left-hander went the first six innings. He gave up no runs on two hits. He walked two and struck out a career-high nine batters. The Gophers lost the lead in the 7th inning on a three-run homer. Micah Coffey and Matt Stemper were each 2-4. Toby Hanson went 1-3 with a walk. The Gophers will play two more games against Sacramento State, one each on Friday and Saturday.Then next weekend, they begin Big Ten play at Ohio State. Alex Wimmers, Twins top pick in 2010 and former Buckeye noted the other day, “It’s crazy how college baseball is starting up conference play in a week here already.” He said that he played the Gophers twice at Ohio State and once in the Metrodome during his three years. “They always had a good team when I was there.” Click here to view the article

It is a moment that every kid who puts on a baseball glove has. That dream becomes more vivid as you move up the ranks, get drafted and move up the minor league system. After all that Alex Wimmers went through on the field early in his minor league career, he arrived in the big leagues late in August last year. He had some very good moments in a Twins uniform, and he can forever be called a big leaguer. However, following the season, Wimmers had another setback. The Twins designated him for assignment. It could have marked the end of Wimmer's time in a Twins uniform. Because he had originally signed in 2010, he had the right to become a free agent. “When they DFAd me, I was pretty disappointed,” Wimmers said, but he continued, “But then talking to Rob Antony and the guys, they gave me some really good reassurance that they wanted me back and they were really excited for me to come back to the Twins.” Wimmers didn’t have to do much thinking. Very soon, he signed on the dotted line and remained a member of the Minnesota Twins organization.“They’ve dealt with a lot with me and I felt like I owed it to them. At the same time, I love it here. Love the guys. Love the teammates. Love the potential that this team has. I feel like once they offered me to come back, I didn’t want to turn it down because I feel like this team can really be special. I really do. And I feel like I can be a part of that.” ~~~~~ The Twins drafted Wimmers out of Ohio State where he was twice named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. Over those two seasons, he went 18-2 with ERAs or 3.27 and 1.60. The Twins made him the 21st overall pick of the 2010 draft, and he signed and went straight to Ft. Myers to join the Miracle. The next spring, he reported to spring training camp unable to throw strikes. He was shut down and came back later in the year. Things started looking good again. In fact, in his final start of the season, he tossed a no-hitter for the Miracle. Unfortunately, he then needed Tommy John surgery and missed a little more than a year. (Yes, he has talked some with Trevor May after news of his torn UCL, “I talked to him a little bit about it, but at the same time, he can’t do anything about it now. So just do the best he can to rehab and get healthy and try to focus on being healthy for the start of next year.”) Going through all of that was difficult, but it was all part of his maturing process. Through it all, he gained some perspective. When I talked to Wimmers in late September last year, he talked a bit about the perspective he gained in his career. But when his daughter was born last summer, an added bit of perspective was found. It helped him leave the ballgame and the ballpark behind whether he pitched well or not. Wimmers said, “I just try to take everything day-by-day. Stuff happens in life that you can’t control. You can’t expect certain things, and there’s a reason for everything. I know a lot of stuff doesn’t go your way, but if you find a way to take the positives out of it, then I think things will work out in the long run.” After coming back, he tried to return to the role of starting pitcher, but he struggled. Another setback of sorts, but it turned into a positive for his career. The bullpen is a role that he’s been able to adjust to and really thrive in. “Going from starter to reliever is definitely interesting because I have been starting pretty much my whole life. I had to learn in the beginning of last year just how to get ready quickly. That was the hard part especially in the cold weather. That was my big adjustment. Not only get the call to get ready, but still be ready to go into the game later in the game. I had to get used to that.” He continued, “As far as closing, that’s just a role that (Rochester manager Mike) Quade put me in and felt confident in me, and then I took it and ran with it. I enjoy it. I really did.” Wimmers has been able to find success and figure out a way to get batters out with his stuff. He is able to get hitters out, in large part, due to his starting pitcher’s repertoire. He’s got the pitches, and some are above average. “Obviously my changeup is pretty good. I have a really good cutter now. I have a curveball late in the count that I don’t like to show much, but then when I do, it catches them by surprise. I feel like I have four good pitches that I can go to at any time.” ~~~~~ The Red Wings boarded the bus and were on their way to Scranton for a game. The bus was plenty loud as players were talking or watching a movie. Others sat quietly with headphones covering their ears. However, it suddenly got very quiet, and Wimmers heard his name called from the front of the bus. Wimmers recalls, “The coaches told me to come up to the front of the bus, and they told me I was heading to the big leagues. Pretty exciting.” Clearly when you’ve had the ups and downs that Wimmers has had, and you’ve been toiling in the minor leagues for more than six years, he had to have had a very strong support staff. “The first person I called was my wife. She was in tears. Then I called my father and my mom, and everyone was really, really excited.” Wimmers came up and joined the team in Toronto. On August 26th, he made his major league debut against the Blue Jays. He worked a perfect eighth inning and even struck out two batters. He worked a total of 17.1 innings over 16 appearances. He walked 11 and struck out 14, though six of the walks came in back-to-back outings. He recorded his first, and so far only, big league win against the Royals on September 7th. ~~~~~ Since re-signing with the Twins, Wimmers has had a very productive offseason. He said that he learned a ton from his five-week stint in the big leagues that he is able to bring with him. He is glad that he was able to get to the big leagues and get some experience, but now the challenge is to push himself to the next step and get back there. “About myself, (I learned to) just keep trusting my stuff. There’s a reason why I got there with my stuff. I feel like all my pitches did well there, so just continue to pound the strike zone.” He’s been working with a renewed focus, a focus based on having been there, having finally seen that time in the big leagues and learning what he needed to work on. He said, “(I) tightened up my pitches, but my big thing coming into this year, I wanted to make sure I focused on getting strike one. When I got called up, the biggest thing I noticed was when I had the most success I got ahead of batters, so I really want to focus this year.” ~~~~~ Recently Alex Wimmers was joined by his wife (Amy) on the field of Hammond Stadium. Their nearly one-year-old daughter was in her stroller. Amy held a white ball. Alex held a bat in his hands and stood in a left-handed, relaxed stance on the warning track near the Twins bullpen. Moments later, Amy pitched the ball underhanded toward Alex. He took a mighty swing (OK, not really, he was pretty worried about whiffing!). He connected, and the “ball” exploded, producing a puff of blue powder. That’s right. The Wimmers family will expand to four in September when they welcome a son into the world. Alex Wimmers now has a little more perspective, and he has a little more drive to make it back to the big leagues. Don’t count him out. Click here to view the article

The work groups are available at the minor league complex. They are currently separated into five groups. When the Twins made their 6 roster moves on Monday, they went from four groups to five groups, adding the Extended Spring Training group.

I saw Duffey's "bad" inning. He was throwing the ball well, but some of those liners just found a spot. There was one liner to center that Quintin Berry dove for and just missed. The liner to left center was crushed. Tomorrow (Thursday), Rochester and Chattanooga will head to Port Charlotte. The Rays Low A and High A teams will play Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids on the back fields. I'll be there Thursday and Friday. Probably go to the big league game on Saturday.

I don't even know how to write about it but the pride of the players from Puerto Rico and the Dominican and Venezuela - the guys who are at Twins minor league camp - is unreal. The players stay up. There was a huge room full of almost all of the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans during last night's game. I had a nice, long chat on Tuesday with Dereck Rodriguez, and his tone and excitement about that team is great. He's stayeed up and watched every pitch of every Puerto Rico games so far. I've had numerous chats with Nelson Molina, and they are so proud. Santiago and Rosario were in no danger of losing a roster spot for Opening Day when they went, but obviously Berrios and Vargas probably didn't help their chances by going... and yet my guess is that they don't even have a second thought about their decision.

I think that's still most likely. He can use some time, but I think he's showing the reason Baseball America had him in their midseason Top 100 last year. He's certainly got some talent.

Yeah, I don't sense that it's anything negative toward Berrios. Hector and Santana had already been discussed in the post-game scrum, so I'm sure they were top of mind. Berrios was discussed at other times, and he's certainly in the race.

He pitched his three innings and 45 pitches yesterday (Tuesday) and did well. A couple of base runners, several ground balls. He'll be solid.

I'm a fan of Patrick. He and I chat a lot down here, and it was fun. 25 minutes or so, but it was very conversational, a great time!

He moves all over the infield and outfield. He can play probably 7 positions.

He's been moving between 2B and 3B. I'd have to look at those projections. I don't think a lot will change. Obviously I had Kirilloff on there, which opens up a spot.

The Twins and Cardinals game on Wednesday afternoon had 9,538 fans, a new Hammond Stadium record. While most were wearing Cardinal red, the Twins won an 8-0 decision. While the offense was strong, the story of this game was the pitching. A fifth-starter candidate stepped up big time, and the bullpen was tremendous. Late last week when we learned the unfortunate news that Trevor May has a torn ulnar collateral ligament, the first thought was disappointment for a young man who worked hard this offseason to get healthy. The second thought was that the fifth starter job was suddenly back up for grabs. On Wednesday, Adalberto Mejia made his case.Mejia came to the Twins last July from the Giants in exchange for Eduardo Nunez. He made one relief appearance for the Twins in 2016. He came to spring training as a long shot to make the Twins Opening Day roster, rarely mentioned when fifth-starter options were mentioned. Coming into Wednesday, his first spring start, he worked 6.2 innings over four relief appearances. He’d pitched fairly well, giving up just one run despite five hits and three walks. And, he had struck out only three. The Twins had Tyler Duffey start a minor league game on a back field on Wednesday (more on that later), giving Mejia an opportunity to start at Hammond Stadium against the Cardinals. Despite traveling across the state, the Cardinals brought big leaguers Kolten Wong, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty, Matt Adams, Tommy Pham and 2016 All Star Aledmys Diaz. In other words, it was a good challenge for the southpaw. Mejia did give up four hits in 3.2 innings of work, but he showed an ability to dominate. He recorded 11 outs, and eight of them came via the strikeout. Mejia said after the game that he threw his “fastball, slider and sinker… and change up.” He came into the game hoping to work all of his pitches. “Obviously I was throwing what the catcher was asking. He’s a veteran. He knows what he’s doing. There were some things I was working on things like taking some speed off of the slider, or taking some speed off of the changeup.” Mejia noted that he throws his slider anywhere from 81 to 87, which can really been beneficial for him. His manager was impressed with the outing. “He’s getting a chance to get extended. I think he realizes we’re trying to get a good look at him, see where he’s at. He’s a different pitcher than the brief look we got at him last year in terms of what he can do with the baseball. Other than the numbers, in an outing like today you look at how he’s handling situations and his, what looks to be a really good idea, what he wants to do with each and every hitter, and he’s executing pitches. It was a good outing. He had some traffic there in a couple of innings and found a way to get off the field including the long battle that ended with the one strikeout. It was solid. Threw strikes. Changeup is very effective. I like that he can change arm angles to give hitters a different look. There’s a lot of good things there.” Tyler Duffey pitched for the AAA Rochester team against the AAA Norfolk team, the affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. He looked strong the first couple of innings. In one inning, he gave up a couple of line drive hits, all over the field. In total, he gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in three-plus innings. He struck out two. Molitor was in the Red Wings dugout for Duffey’s performance. “Duffey had a good day over there too, I thought. He ran into trouble in one inning over there when he couldn’t get off the field with two outs.” photo by Seth Stohs Following Justin Haley’s start on Monday at Hammond Stadium, Molitor indicated that he would like to see Haley get extended some. Ryan Vogelsong is still in the equation as well. Molitor noted after the game, “There were other people that have been in the mix since the beginning that we haven’t excluded yet. We’ve got a little bit of time with the absence of Hector (Santiago) and Ervin (Santana) that the innings are available to keep getting looks at people, those guys or Vogelsong. So we’re still watching.” As for Mejia, he’s not trying to do too much. “I just kept thinking, throw strikes, throw strikes. There’s nothing else you can do out there on the mound. If you keep thinking about other things like what am I going to do differently that’s when you mess up. So I just went out there and kept throwing strikes.” He later added, “I’m not thinking. I’m just trying to go out there and do my job and trying to do what they ask me to do.” Molitor insists that the fifth start job is still an open competition. “We were open-minded. I think the message in camp early was that we feel there is a lot of competition here, a lot of people in the mix. I was kind of looking foward to see what he could do. So far he’s done a nice job.” Mejia is just going to keep working and let the chips fall where they may. “I just want to help the team. That’s the goal, to be on the big club and help the team win. I’m just throwing pitches, learning from all the people here, learning from the veterans and people who have been in the position I’m in. I throw strikes and whatever happens happens. Today was a good day.” BULLPEN LINES UP Jake Reed struck out the one batter he faced to end the fourth inning. Then the Twins rolled out five relievers that could (maybe should) all be on the Opening Day roster. Brandon Kintzler, Craig Breslow, Ryan Pressly, Matt Belisle and Taylor Rogers combined for five shutout innings. They combined to give up just one hit, walked one and struck out three. Belisle struck out two in his inning. NEW LINEUP Molitor went with a lineup combination that we haven’t yet seen, and we’ll likely see more combinations as spring winds down. “There are some combinations that I want to look at. When you’re not having your guys play together very often, you don’t get a lot of opportunities to do that. Today was a day I thought we’d change it up and see what it looked like and how it would play out. Potentially you’ve got a couple of guys that aren’t here that might be in the mix too.” The Twins came through with eight runs in the game. In the third inning, Byungho Park and Jason Castro hit singles which were followed by a Jorge Polanco walk. Joe Mauer came up and hit a bases-loaded double to score two runners. A Brian Dozier ground out scored the third run of the inning. Max Kepler doubled to right-center, though Mauer was only able to advance to third base because the ball bounced off the tip of the center fielder’s glove and probably should have been caught. Mauer was tagging up to get to third base. Buxton walked before the final out was made. It was a nice inning Molitor said “Buxton’s been a one or nine guy for us. To try to get him some bats in the middle of the lineup. With Joe, we tried that last year a little bit leading off. You might see a couple more combinations going forward." photo by Seth Stohs The Twins added another run in the fifth. Joe Mauer led off with a single up the middle. After Brian Dozier and Max Kepler flew out, Miguel Sano walked. Byron Buxton doubled to left to score Mauer. For what it’s worth, Mauer was 2-3 with the two-run double. Buxton was 1-2 with a walk and an RBI double. For today, the lineup worked. The Twins scored another four runs in the 7th inning, though it was the backups that created that offense. Ehire Adrianza walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Daniel Palka then walked. Eduardo Escobar singled in Adriana. After a fly out, Zack Granite walked. Matt Hague singled in a run. Chris Gimenez singled to score two more runs. The Twins are on the next couple of days. Tomorrow they go to Jupiter tomorrow to play the Cardinals again. Then on Friday they will go to Bradenton to take on the Rays. Asked if there could be more roster moves coming in the near future, Molitor noted that with the two road games. “There might be some more movement here by the end of the week.” Feel free to discuss. Click here to view the article

One interesting possibility I've heard discussed is this: Park and Vargas to AAA. Grossman the primary DH... extra outfielder (or infielder). Grossman would be the primary DH, but obviously guys like Mauer, Sano, Rosario, Dozier, really anyone could DH on a given day. In that scenario, the one concern is that Sano will have to play some first base too. But Chris Gimenez can also play 1B, if he makes the team. I think there are some creative possibilities to start the season that would allow an "extra" hitter on the roster.