Seth Stohs

Regarding Buxton... I think we assumed that we (meaning, the Twins) could be more patient with Buxton's offense because the rest of the offense would be good. Aside from Mauer (and Nunez) no one is hitting, everyone is striking out. Regarding the Sano in outfield injury thing... Danny Santana's at least 80-100 pounds less than Sano. He got hurt. More proof, anyone can get hurt, so there will be injury risk with Sano playing OF, or 3B or DH... so, unless they just keep him on the bench and decide that he isn't going to play at all, he's at risk... as is everyone.

Chargois? To the Twins.

3 games, and 3 batters faced, probably won't do it, but 1.) I think Turner getting to repeat is just what he needed. We'll see how it goes, 2.) I think Chargois is the first reliever called up.

In his first outing, Bard was at 94-96 and hit 97. He's good and finally healthy. Another one of the really good people in the organization. And yes, that is remarkably efficient.

The Twins Almanac is back with a look at this week in Minnesota Twins history. It starts with a big trade, but there are stories of bad weather in the Met Stadium and Metrodome eras and much, much more.April 10, 1982 The Twins traded Roy Smalley and St. Cloud State alumnus, Gary Serum, to the New York Yankees for Ron Davis, Greg Gagne and Paul Boris. Ron Davis, who had been an All-Star in ‘81, was one of the game’s first setup men, combining for a potent 1-2 punch with Hall of Famer, Goose Gossage. Davis still holds the Yankees record for consecutive strikeouts in a single game with 8 on May 4, 1981. Doug Fister established a new American League record for consecutive strikeouts in a game with 9 on September 27th, 2012. The Major League record belongs to Tom Seaver, who K’ed 10 in a row on April 22nd, 1970. Ron Davis was never in all-star form in Minnesota, however. He tied a single season record with 14 blown saves in 1984, a dubious feat which no pitcher has matched since. Four pitchers had blown 14 saves in a season prior to Davis, including Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers (1976) and Bruce Sutter (‘78). Incidentally, Goose Gossage (112), Rollie Fingers (109) and Jeff Reardon (106) have the most blown saves in major league history. Gossage’s six seasons with 10 or more blown saves are most all-time, followed by Fingers and Reardon, each with four seasons of 10 or more. Ron Davis was sent to the Chicago Cubs in August of ‘86 as part of a trade that brought George Frazier to the Twins. Frazier pitched in 54 games for the ‘87 Twins. Davis never saved another game, pitching sparingly in relief for the Cubs, Dodgers and Giants through the end of the ‘88 season. Though Davis was the object of the Twins’ desire at the time, Greg Gagne would obviously emerge as the key figure in this transaction. He didn’t make his major league debut until 1983 and even then only played 12 games between the ‘83 and ‘84 seasons before becoming a fixture at shortstop for the Twins from 1985 to 1992. He was a key component of the Twins’ ‘87 and ‘91 World Series championships. The Twins had originally acquired Roy Smalley in the 1976 trade that sent Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson to the Texas Rangers. In July of ‘84, the Yankees offloaded Smalley to the White Sox in exchange for players to be named later, one of whom wound up being Doug Drabek, who, after just one season, the Yankees in turn shipped off to Pittsburgh where he would win the 1990 Cy Young Award. The White Sox traded Smalley back to Minnesota in 1985. Smalley retired after the Twins’ 1987 World Series championship season. Gary Serum was born in Fargo, went to high school in Alexandria, MN and pitched at Minnesota State Moorhead and St. Cloud State before being signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins in 1975. He played two and a half major league seasons with the Twins from ‘77 to ‘79. Despite posting a 9-1 record between AA and AAA in the Yankees organization, 1982 was Serum’s final professional season. April 11th It’s the birthday of the inimitable Bob Casey (1925-2005), Twins public address announcer for 44 years. Casey was the only PA announcer in Twins history until his death in 2005. Casey also worked for the Minneapolis Millers, the Lakers and the Vikings. April 11, 1961 The Twins played their first ever regular season game at Yankee Stadium. Harmon Killebrew collected the first hit in Twins history, leading off the 4th with a single to center. Twins pitcher Pedro Ramos and Whitey Ford were locked in a scoreless duel until Bob Allison led off the 7th with a home run, the first in Twins history. The Twins went on to win their first game 6-0 as Ramos pitched a complete game, 3-hit shutout versus the eventual 1961 World Series champs. Ramos held Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to a combined 1-for-11, with Berra singling in the 1st. Ramos did not allow a base-runner after the 5th inning. Roger Maris would establish a new single season home run record with 61 that year. The Twins would go on to a 5-1 record before playing their first home game in front of a crowd already deep in the throes of pennant fever. They would lose their first game in Bloomington, however, 3-5 to the new Senators, and finish their inaugural season 70-90, good for 7th place in the America League. April 12, 2005 The Twins beat the Tigers 5-4 on a Shannon Stewart walk-off ground rule double off Troy Percival, who had not allowed an earned run versus the Twins in over 40 innings going back to 1995. Torii Hunter drove in Jason Bartlett to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th. April 12, 2010 The Twins beat the Red Sox 5-2 in the first regular season game played at Target Field. Carl Pavano earned the win for the Twins. Jon Lester, the losing pitcher, walked Denard Span to lead off the bottom of the 1st. Orlando Hudson then collected the Twins’ first hit at Target Field. After Mauer and Morneau made the first two outs, Michael Cuddyer collected the new stadium’s first RBI, driving in Span on a single to left. Jason Kubel then drove in Hudson, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead in the 1st. Mauer hit an RBI double in the 2nd, and an RBI single in the 4th. Jason Kubel hit Target Field’s first regular season home run leading off the 7th. Jon Rauch retired Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre in order for the save. April 13, 1962 In just the second year of major league baseball in Minnesota, the scheduled home opener versus the Los Angeles Angels was cancelled due to six inches of snow. April 14, 1983 The largest April snowstorm in Minneapolis’s history forced the postponement of a game versus the California Angels. The decision to postpone the game was made the night before out of concern that the Angels would not be able to arrive in Minnesota in time. Travel concerns were a moot point, however, as damage from the storm caused the Metrodome roof to collapse about twelve hours after the decision to postpone. The spring storm dumped over 13 inches of snow on the Twin Cities. April 15, 2000 Cal Ripken, jr. became the 24th player to reach 3,000 hits in a 6-4 Orioles win at the Metrodome. Ripken entered the game sitting at 2,997, having collected 1 hit the night before in a wild 10-9 Twins win. Trailing 4-9, the Twins scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th before Eddie Guardado earned the save, retiring Ripken for the final out of the game. On this night, Ripken was 2-for-3 when he came up in the 7th in a tie game with 2 out and Albert Belle on third. Hector Carrasco was brought in from the bullpen to face the Iron Man. Catcher Matt LeCroy gave up a passed ball on Carrasco’s first pitch, allowing Belle to score the go-ahead run. Then, on the second pitch of the at-bat, Ripken stroked a line drive single to center, becoming the seventh player in major league history to collect both 400 home runs and 3,000 hits. Former Twin Mike Trombley came on in the bottom of the 9th to earn the save for Baltimore. Noteworthy in retrospect is the fact that Midre Cummings pinch-hit for the number nine batter, Torii Hunter. Ripken was greeted at first after his 3,000th hit by base coach Eddie Murray, who had himself hit his 3,000th hit at the Metrodome in 1995 off of Mike Trombley as a member of the Cleveland Indians. The following season, while playing for Baltimore, Murray became just the third person in major league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez have since joined the club. St. Paul Central High School graduate and Golden Gophers legend, Dave Winfield, also collected his 3,000th hit at the Metrodome in 1993. 29 players have collected 3,000 hits in the 146 year history of major league baseball. Three of those reached the milestone at the Metrodome in a period of seven years. It is also noteworthy that of the 29 members of the 3,000 hit club, two (Winfield and Paul Molitor) were born in St. Paul just five years apart. April 15, 2001 In a home game versus the Chicago White Sox, Eric Milton struck out the side in the 1st, including Frank Thomas. Milton went on to strike out 8 of the first 10 batters he faced. He allowed only 2 runs over 7 innings, those coming on a 2-run Thomas homer in the 6th, one of 521 he hit in his career, tied with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 19th all-time. LaTroy Hawkins earned the save in the Twins 4-3 victory, their 6th straight, improving to 9-2 on the season. April 16, 1961 In the top of the 1st in game 1 of a doubleheader in Baltimore, Bob Allison hit the first grand slam in Twins history. Baltimore’s Chuck Estrada, who had tied for the league lead with 18 wins the previous season and who would win 15 in 1961, walked three straight to start the game before giving up a home run to the cleanup hitter, Allison. After giving up a double to Jim Lemon, Estrada was pulled, having pitched to just five batters. Relief pitcher John Papa didn’t fare much better, walking home two more Twins runs before Dick Hall, the third pitcher used by Baltimore in the 6-run 1st, came on to get the final out. Bob Allison added a 3-run home run in the 6th, giving him 7 RBIs for the game. The Twins won 10-5. In game 2, the Twins held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. With 1 out and the bases loaded, Baltimore crept within 1 on an RBI groundout. Then, with 2 down, runners on second and third and future-Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog pinch-hitting for future-Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, Twins pitcher Ray Moore unleashed a wild pitch, allowing Baltimore to tie the game 4-4. In the top of the 11th, Zoilo Versalles hit a 2-run home run and Chuck Stobbs slammed the door in the bottom of the inning. For the history of the Minnesota Twins, told one day at a time, like The Twins Almanac on Facebook and follow @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter. For the stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook and follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter. Click here to view the article

On Saturday, the Twins fell again and are now 0-5, with Ricky Nolasco set to make his first start on Sunday. We’re getting increasingly close to Twins minor league reports becoming the most important part of Twins Daily. Then again, minor league coverage is always fun and exciting from day to day. Even when things are bad in the big leagues, there are three or four more box scores to give us something to get excited about. Of course, now Max Kepler is not going to be appearing on minor league reports, at least for a little while, after today. A couple of relief pitchers provided reason for optimism, and the Lookouts recorded their first win of the season thanks to a huge inning. The Kernels now have a winning streak.Continue reading to find out all that happened in the minor league games on Saturday as we look forward to JO Berrios’s first start of the season on Sunday. TRANSACTIONS With Danny Santana placed on the disabled list after Saturday night’s Twins loss, the Twins called up outfielder Max Kepler from AAA Rochester. For Cedar Rapids, Zack Tillery was placed on the disabled list. RED WINGS REPORT The game was postponed already on Friday afternoon. The Red Wings home opener will now be on Sunday. JO Berrios will start for Rochester opposite former Twins pitcher Anthony Swarzak. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Biloxi 5 Box Score A big inning helped Chattanooga to post their first win of the season on Saturday. Down 2-0 through two innings, the Lookouts offense, woeful to that point in the season, put together a rally to score six runs. Levi Michael got things going with an RBI triple and scored when Engelb Vielma singled him in. Later, Dalton Hicks singled in a run before Joe Maloney doubled in two more runs. Levi Michael led the way. He went 3-4 with the triple and three RBI. Stuart Turner continues his hot start with a 3-5 day. Dalton Hicks, who wasn’t in the original lineup, went 2-4 with a walk. David Hurlbut got the start and worked the first five innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks. He struck out two. Corey Williams came in and got four outs. He gave up no runs on one hit two walks and strike out. He was replaced by Marcus Walden who was charged with two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. JT Chargois came on for the ninth inning and struck out the side to give the Lookouts the win. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Bradenton 1 Box Score Lefty Tyler Jay made his first start of the season for the Miracle. The 2015 top pick had some issues with control, but he also showed how dominant he can be. He needed just over 80 pitches to get through five innings. He gave up just one run on three hits. He walked three and hit one batter. He also struck out seven. Jay left after five and was replaced by Todd Van Steensel. He walked three and struck out one over two scoreless and hitless innings. Luke Bard came in and worked the final two innings. He was perfect and struck out three batters to record the Save. The offense didn’t come up with a lot, but they were able to bunch some hits together. They managed six hits and walked four times. TJ White and Alex Swim each had two hits in the game. Nick Gordon and Trey Vavra each had one. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2 Box Score After playing two games in Cedar Rapids, these teams shifted their match-up to the southwest and played in Davenport, Iowa. The result at the end of the day was the same, a Kernels’ win. Australian Sam Gibbons started and went the first five innings. He gave up one run on five hits and three walks. He struck out four. Logan Lombana came on for his first appearance and worked three innings. He gave up one run on one hit. John Curtiss came in for the ninth. He walked the first batter he faced, but responded by striking out the next three batters. The River Bandits committed three errors that helped two of the runs score. However in the 3rd inning, Rafael Valera hit a two-run triple. In the 6th inning, LaMonte Wade knocked in two runs with a double. Valera also walked twice while Wade walked once. Bryant Hayman was the catcher and played in his first game. He was 1-3 with a walk. Luis Arraez, on his 19th birthday, made his first start, batting ninth and playing second base. He went 1-3 with a walk. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – JT Chargois, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Levi Michael, Chattanooga Lookouts SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (12:35 CST) - Jose Berrios (vs Swarzak) Chattanooga @ Biloxi (1:10 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (12:00 CST) – RHP Keaton Steele Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:15 CST) – LHP Sam Clay Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

He's so young (along with Arraez, who is batting 9th today) that maybe Jake just wants to kind of keep the pressure low on them and let them mix in. Also, how they were performing late in spring training might come into play too.

I can't pretend to know enough about diabetes to know the answer to that. Others might. It may factor in. I'd think along with the heat and humidity in Ft. Myers, maybe it could be tough. But I did hear that the mechanics played a large role in the inconsistency.

That's why I think it is good that he stayed with the Miracle. Continuing to work on things while moving up doesn't always work. Being able to stay at a level and experience those successes rather than always being over your head has value. I hope he can be more consistent with everything.

I agree. It's a well put together roster.

Correct.. thank you!

Didn't realize Van Mil got hit on a line drive. That looked painful! Pat Dean was terrific through 5 innings in the 2nd game, but the 6th inning was not good.

He looked good during spring training when I was there. But he has the last couple of years too. It'll be about mechanics for him, I think because the stuff has always been pretty impressive.

That's way too much detail, but I'll give you what I know. 6 swinging strike threes, and 1 called. No idea what his net velocity was last year or how to find that. I know that I was told there were some games he was 94-96 and other games he was 89-91. And there were some games where, from inning to inning, you might see either one. His mechanics were not good or consistent last year. Hopefully he's cleaned that up and can be more consistent with the velocity and the rest of his stuff. Per Jeremy Nygaard, who I know listened for a couple of innings, mentioned on twitter that he was really mixing it up well and had velocities all over the board. Very nice first outing.

See the Saturday Matchups at the end of the article. He was supposed to start the Home Opener on Saturday... they postponed their game for tomorrow already, so he's starting their opener on Sunday now.

It was the first Friday night in the Minor League schedule. At the end of the day, despite a couple of questionable weather situations, all four Twins full-season affiliates have completed two games. All four starting pitchers went at least five innings, and three of the starters had more than a strikeout per inning. Not a ton of offense in any of the games, but enough to get a couple of wins.Any feedback would be welcomed on these reports, positive or negative. What do you enjoy, and what would you like to see more of (or any of). RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 - Rochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 0 (Completion of Suspended Game) Box Score The teams got through four innings on Thursday’s opening night, but that was it. On Friday afternoon, Brandon Kintzler replaced Tyler Duffey who had thrown four shutout innings. Kintzler threw two scoreless innings, striking out four and giving up just one hit. Taylor Rogers went the next two innings. He gave up a walk and a hit, but no runs and struck out one. JR Graham pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out one, for his first save. Jorge Polanco led the way going 3-4 with two triples. He scored twice thanks to Max Kepler. First, Kepler grounded out to score Polanco with the team’s first run of the season. Later, Kepler knocked a sacrifice fly to score Polanco with the second run. Kepler was 1-3 with two RBI. His hit was a single to left. Adam Brett Walker provided the power for the third run with his first AAA home run. He was 1-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Kennys Vargas went 2-3. Game 2 - Rochester 2, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 7 (Regularly-Scheduled Game) Box Score Pat Dean was terrific through five innings. He started the sixth inning and gave up a single and a double before being replaced by Loek Van Mil. Van Mil allowed both runners to score, then gave up four more hits and they all scored (3 earned). He also walked one. Dan Runzler came on and threw a wild pitch to score one more before getting the final out of the bottom of the 6th inning. The six-run inning was too much to overcome. Through five innings, Dean had given up just an unearned run on two hits and a walk. He struck out six. However, because of the 6th inning, his final line is three runs (2 earned) on four hits and a walk in five innings. Five errors by the Red Wings certainly didn’t help the cause in this game. Jorge Polanco, playing second base again, had two of the errors. Juan Centeno gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a single. He was 1-2 with a walk and a stolen base. Buck Britton went 2-3 with a double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Biloxi 6 Box Score Biloxi knocked three home runs in this game to even the series at one game a piece. Two of the homers came later to give them some breathing room. However, the first homer came in the first. DJ Baxendale was on the mound. He got the first batter out but then gave up back-to-back doubles before prospect Jacob Nottingham hit a home run to give them a 3-0 lead. After that, Baxendale was terrific. Following the home run, he faced 17 more batters. He gave up just three singles and two of them were erased with double plays by the next batter. So Baxendale ended with a quality start. He completed six innings and was charged with three runs on six hits. He walked none and struck out five. He was replaced by lefty Mason Melotakis who threw his first game in about 20 months after Tommy John surgery. He gave up a solo home run in the 7th to make it 4-2. Jake Reed got the eighth inning. He got the first two batters out quickly, one on a strikeout. He then gave up a single and a long home run to make the score 6-2. He ended the inning with a second strikeout. The Miracle offense wasn’t able to do much. In fact, through five innings against former Twins draft pick Javi Salas (38th round, 2013, went back to Miami for senior season) the only base runner was Stuart Turner who was hit by a pitch. In the 6th, Turner got the team’s first hit, a double (his second in as many games). He moved to third on a bunt and scored on a Zach Granite ground out. An inning later, Mitch Garver cut the deficit to 3-2 with his first home run of the season. Turner and Garver have each started one game at DH and one game behind the plate. Turner is hitting .500 (2-4 with a walk and a HBP) so far with two doubles. Garver is 2-7 with the home run. Daniel Palka was again not in the starting lineup. He did pinch hit for Turner in the 7th inning and popped out. The Lookouts 3-5 hitters went 0-12 in this game with eight strikeouts. It was a theme as the Lookouts struck out 13 times in the game without drawing a walk. That doesn’t work often when recording just four hits. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Bradenton 2 Box Score The story of this game was definitely the performance of Kohl Stewart. The former #1 pick made his first start of the year. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out seven. He gave up a two-run homer in the fifth inning. According to Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zimmerman, Stewart’s fastball was sitting 94-96 mph and hit 97 at times. Stewart was replaced in the 7th inning by lefty Luke Westphal who struck out two (and walked one) in the inning. Because the Miracle took the lead after his inning, he gets credit for the win. Yorman Landa came on for the 8th frame. He gave up no runs on one hit. He struck out one to help get out of the inning despite his own error. Down 2-0 going into the sixth, the Miracle got on the board in the 6th. Ryan Walker led off with a walk. With one out, Nick Gordon singled. An error on the center fielder allowed Walker to score. In the 7th inning, Trey Vavra was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He went to third on a single by Logan Wade. A single by Alex Real scored Vavra. Chad Christensen bunted the runners to second and third. Following a pitching change, Ryan Walker came through with an RBI single to put the Miracle up 4-3. Trevor Hildenberger, our choice for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2015, came on to protect a one-run lead. The first batter hit a slow roller to third but the runner was safe at first. Hildenberger struck out the next two batters before another slow hopper to the right side resulted in another infield hit. With two on and two outs, Hildenberger got the final out on a fly ball to Tanner English in center. Ryan Walker went 2-2 with a walk and that game-winning RBI. Alex Real went 2-3. Nick Gordon went 1-4, and Trey Vavra was 1-3 with a hit by pitch. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2 Box Score It was cold in Cedar Rapids on Friday night. Late in the game, the temp dropped to 32 degrees. Earlier in the game, there were snow flurries flying. They got the game in and the Kernels found a way to get their second win in as many chances. Andro Cutura got things going right. He struck out three in the first inning. Through four shutout innings, he had seven strikeouts. He gave up two runs in the fifth, but ended the inning with his eighth strikeout and five complete innings. CK Irby struck out two over two scoreless innings. Brainerd native (and Mayville State grad) Nick Anderson struck out two over two scoreless innings to end it. In the 2nd inning, Max Murphy led off with a single and advanced to third on a Zander Wiel double. JJ Fernandez hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Murphy. It was deep enough to allow Wiel to advance to third base. He then scored on a wild pitch. An inning later, Rafael Valera led off with a triple. A couple of batters later, Max Murphy tripled him in. Murphy then scored on a Wiel sacrifice fly. The Kernels scored two more late in the game thanks to four wild pitches to make it 6-2. Murphy went 2-4 with the triple. Wiel was 1-2 with a walk, a double and the sacrifice fly. LaMonte Wade was 1-3 with a walk. Chris Paul walked twice. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kohl Stewart, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ryan Walker, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS The Rochester Red Wings announced on Friday that Saturday’s home opener has been postponed and will be played at a later date. The Red Wings new home opener will be played on Sunday with Jose Berrios on the mound. Chattanooga @ Biloxi (7:10 CST) – LHP David Hurlbut Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (5:30 CST) – LHP Tyler Jay Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:15 CST) – RHP Sam Gibbons Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

Definitely not as many hitting prospects as in upper levels, but plenty worth watching. Thanks Roger! Hope you're well!

Anyone notice that Sano got hurt playing 3B a couple of years ago, and he was hurt as a DH last year... Players get hurt sometimes.

I think Punto would be much more appreciated on sites like this now than he was a 6-8 years ago. 1.) His defense was terrific and because of it, he was a positive bWAR player each season. 2.) In 2006, he was worth 3.7 WAR, and in 2008, he was worth 2.3 bWAR. The other years, he would have a .615-.650 OPS which wasn't terrible for his defense. He was a utility infielder, and the Twins knew it. But, due to some really bad play or injury at various positions (3B-Tony Batista, etc.), he had to play a lot more. And, even when he didn't hit, he took a ton of pitches and had a pretty solid IsoD most years.

I chatted with Stephen for awhile this morning. They went into the first inning with the plan of being aggressive. Problem was, so were the hitters. The two singles were seeing-eye singles through the infield. He said that the home run was just a really bad location on 1-2. Gonsalves is very smart, knows how to pitch and has good stuff... He's also accountable. Overall though, he should be real happy with his first outing.

Note - Despite milb.com saying yesterday Baxendale was placed on the DL, I just heard from someone who would know that he was not, and that he is pitching tonight (which is also what milb.com says).

Yup, he's scheduled to start their home opener. Also, separating Duffey and Berrios with a lefty in between just makes sense.

Javi Salas was the Twins 38th round pick in 2013 out of Miami. He went back for his senior season and was drafted in the 10th round by the Brewers the following year.