Castro frames strike two. Six inches outside. Wild pitch, then calls for a slider that broke a foot inside for swinging strikeout to end inning. Jason Castro, ladies and gentlemen!
Also, Breslow was brought into the game and almost cost us some runs. However, when Breslow came back into the dugout he gathered all his teammates and told a cautionary tale about his poor performance, with all the players nodding in unison. This is what good mentors do.
The hilarious thing is that the lineup would be better with Rosario in left and Danny Santana the DH. I also feel that Sano and Mauer will need to DH significantly this season to get the best from them.
Give me the "effectively wild", walks and shutout innings any day, over what we've had the past few seasons, of "keep the walks to a minimum, worst ERA in league"
As a kid I seem to remember Mondays and the Reds always playing the first game and then agonizing over this gap day at least a couple times. Of course I might still be asleep as I type this. Maybe I will look it up later or someone with extra AOL dial up hours can do it now. Get rid of the buffer day!
I'm indifferent about whether Park or Vargas should be backing up first base, but one of them needs to. Either one allows for more flexibility than having Danny Santana around, the guy who can "do it all." By the way, Cardinals placed Jose Martinez on the 25-man based mainly on having a good spring training at the plate. He hit a 9th-inning double and scored the game winning run last night. Just one game but let's not mock those who are wondering why Park wasn't added to the team based on his spring training.
Other than Duffy today, the Twins figure to face Jose Quintana a couple times, and probably Kluber during the four game series vs Cleveland in the third week. So, lefties at no more than the typical frequency, but good lefties.
I get that the roster will change quickly, but... sheesh. The plan was for Mauer to DH more, and he's also a candidate to be pinch-run for occasionally. Not a lot of flexibility here the first week or two.
Do the new rules allow for backdating the disabled list into spring training? If so, was there discussion of putting Vargas on the 10-day Disabled List instead of optioning him?