John Bonnes

That's a very interesting note. I'll look for that.

Bloggers and sabrmetricians are sometimes portrayed as treating players as tumbling dice. It's rhetoric meant to discredit and vilify, but it's not totally without merit. I know this because I think I'm about to treat Kyle Gibson and Chris Colabello as tumbling dice. Insiders (players, coaches, etc.) and outsiders (sabrmetrician, bloggers) have vastly different perspective on players and their development in two important ways. First, there is the matter of how much we value our projections. From the outside, we can talk of a player's development curve as an abstraction. We see him as a 22-year-old with an outstanding walk to strikeout ratio and we project him to become a different player four years from now. That projection is a range of possibilities, but it's a statistically backed range. We average them out and derive a destination. However, to the player in that development curve, and to the organization responsible for that development curve, there is no range. There is one spot: where he ends up. The range includes success and it includes failure and he can end up in either. That spot is everything. To them, the range means nothing. The average of that range certainly means nothing. So the first lesson is that player development curves, which are derived from watching groups of players, mean very little to the individual player or their organization. But there is a second and scarier aspect and that surrounds responsibility. We talk about these curves as if the player's progress along it is mandated from some higher forces. But the player and the organization can't count on that. They have to live it. They have to find their way through the obstacles, face the setbacks, make the adjustments. There are hundreds of games, thousands of repetitions, and uncounted adjustments for each player. These are what, when we add them all up, constitute improvement. They do not just happen. From the outside, we see a certain inevitability of improvement. But from the inside, improvement is far from inevitable. It is work and it is risk. However, there is value in being an outsider, too. There is an objectivity that can be lost while working one's way through the maze from the inside of the curve. Maybe some of those improvements, while not inevitable, are very likely. Maybe there are some basic aspects of being human that we eventually overcome. I'm hoping that is the case for Kyle Gibson and Chris Colabello. I talked to each earlier this week about their struggles after they were called up last year. From a distance, I wondered if Gibson thought his struggles were related to arm fatigue after coming back from Tommy John surgery. I wondered if the patience Colabello showed in a few games this week was due to some adjustments he's making in the batters box. They both said I was wrong. Instead, they both listed the same problem and that problem was far more basic and human: they had been nervous. Here's Gibson when I specifically asked him about wearing down at the end of the year. "No, I was just tense. I was not relaxed. I wasn't loose. And I wasn't very aggressive. I fell behind a lot of hitters and when you fall behind guys, big league hitters are pretty good. It makes a big difference. "Even in the starts when I struggled, the hitters who I got ahead of, they didn't really have too much success off of me. But I got behind a lot more hitters than I got ahead of. Getting myself in trouble was a lot of that. That's one thing I've worked on this offseason was being more aggressive and throwing more quality strikes. "I think some of it is confidence and some of it is just getting comfortable and getting used to your surroundings and playing in front of 30 or 35,000 fans every day. About seven or eight starts in, I realized I was gripping the death out of the ball or the life out of the ball. I wasn't relaxed and I wasn't loose. I'm just now figuring out how to transition that from the bullpens to the game because I've never had to really deal with that kind of adrenaline and excitement. I'm starting to get better at it, but it's still a process." This makes perfect sense. I KNOW I'd be nervous. So I wasn't too surprised when later that day Chris Colabello said something very similar. "I think it's a little bit of everything. In terms of just creating a mindset where you're relaxed, allowing yourself to remember how to slow the game down. I talk about that a lot. Last year, coming into this year, that was important to me. Obviously, having been around some guys here for a while now, getting a little bit more comfortable, and trying to know who I am, and them knowing who I am as well. It's more about approaching your at-bats with a little calm." Both players provide a perspective from inside the development curve. Anxiety is one of the challenges with which they have to wrestle. They feel like they're making progress with that. They feel like that progress is a big part of changing where they land on the development curve for the better. But from the outside, I don't know if I believe what the dice are telling me. I believe they are being totally honest. I know they have put a lot more thought into their development than I. I know they have a lot more data from which to base their conclusions. I believe that discomfort was a factor in their struggles. But ultimately, I still wonder if Colabello had trouble making adjustments to big league stuff because it's hard for 30-year-olds physiologically to make adjustments to big league stuff. And I wonder if Gibson wasn't as aggressive because he was getting hit when he was aggressive, and he was getting hit because his arm had been through a hell of a couple of years. It is also not surprising to me that neither player would concentrate on these factors because both are out of their control. Colabello cannot become 24. He can only approach each at-bat more mindfully, which he is demonstrating. Gibson couldn't do anything about what his arm has been through, other than resting it this offseason, which he did. The players don't care about those things for the same reason the bloggers and sabremetricians treat them as dice: you don't focus on on that which you cannot control. Both groups, inside and outside, look for truth based on their position in the curve. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in-between.

Well, that was brutal. Instead, let's focus on something else: tonight marked the start of the Twins second turn through the rotation, and their seventh spring training game. The roles for players are clearer as are the spring training battles. So what do several Twins positional hopefuls need to do to make it to Chicago for Opening day? THE LINEUP Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki, Alex Presley What the need to do: Stay healthy. Pedro Florimon What he needs to do: Get healthy. For what it's worth, he took grounders with the rest of the infielders today. He looks like he's getting close to returning. Jason Kubel What he needs to do: Stay healthy and show he's not completely done. He hasn't done the latter yet, but there's a lot of time. Oswaldo Arcia What he needs to do: Last week, I would have said just be normal. As in, don't struggle too much, don't get too angry, don't go to cray-cray. The job in right field is his job to lose, but he can lose it. (Boy, can he lose it.) That was last week. Today, I'm not so sure. If Arcia does NOT win that spot, he will not be on the bench. He'll be in AAA. That takes care of he starting nine. If the Twins carry 13 position players, which would seem likely, it leaves four spots. Interestingly, assistant GM Rob Antony wasn't committing to that yesterday, saying "it hasn't been determined." If they only carry three spots, those spots are going to a backup infielder, catcher and outfielder. More to the point - a backup shortstop, catcher and center fielder, since there is nobody in the starting nine that can back up those spots. Keeping that in mind, let's look at some other names: BACKUP INFIELDERS Eduardo Escobar What he needs to do: He's the default choice, because of his age and flexibility. Bartlett hasn't demonstrated that he can play third base, and the Twins haven't tried him there this year yet, either. Doug Bernier can play second base, shortstop and third base like Escobar, but he's also eight years older than him. Doug Bernier What he needs to do: Escobar would need to get hurt or do something else for the organization to completely lose confidence in him. Jason Bartlett What he needs to do: First, he needs the Twins to carry at least 13 position players because if he's the shortstop, the Twins are going to need to also bring up either Escobar, Bernier, Deibinson Romero or Brandon Waring to back up third base. However, He makes a somewhat intriguing 13th player in that he can be a backup infielder AND could theoretically be a bat off of the bench. It's not totally clear the 34-year-old can do either, but he might at least be able to get on base. He also looks pretty good as a possible substitution for Florimon late in the game. Chris Colabello What he needs to do: There might be a couple of ways he makes the team: At DH - He needs two of Kubel, Arcia and Parmelee to look very, very bad while he looks very, very good. Even then, I'm not sure it's enough. He likely needs two of them to be unable to play, frankly. He makes another interesting 13th man candidate. With as many left-handed bats as the Twins have, it makes sense to have a right-handed bat that they can plug in occasionally. To win that spot, he needs to look quite a bit more appetizing than Jason Bartlett and Wilkin Ramirez, who we'll get to in a second. James Beresford, Deibinson Romero, Brandon Waring, etc. What they need to do: There needs to be a series of small miracles. It was interesting that Bereford started tonight at second base when most of the other starters were going to be in the Opening Day lineup. Dozier got to sit because he made the long trip to Jupiter yesterday, but that doesn't explain why Escobar and Bernier weren't there. Beresford also played third base yesterday. He would likely be option C as the utility infielder. BACKUP OUTFIELDERS Darin Mastroianni What he needs to do: Ideally, he would show he still has the wheels, if not the instincts, to play center field. He would show he has the wheels to do something when he's on base. He would show that he can get on base. But he doesn't need to do any of these things. He just needs to play center field passably enough that nobody panics. The center field situation is petty dire until Hicks finds himself or Buxton charges up here. Mastroianni is the default fix for now. Wilkin Ramirez What he needs to do: Ramirez is an interesting contrast to Mastroianni. He's less of a center fielder, but more of a hitter. If Mastroianni can't outplay him defensively, he could theoretically be the backup "center fielder," though I'm not totally sure the Twins would want to do that to him. He did play several games there for the Twins last year. But Ramirez has another way to stick on the roster if Mastroianni beats him out. He could be the 13th man. He's right-handed, has some power and gives the Twins a fifth outfielder. His primary competition would be Colabello. Aaron Hicks What he needs to do: Defensively, he's superior to everyone on this list including the starter Alex Pressly. But the Twins would need to be desperately worried about Mastroianni's and Ramirez's defense to limit Hicks' playing time to that of a backup (or short-side of the platoon) in the majors. They have to want him playing every day in AAA. Chris Parmelee What he needs to do: Parmelee's best chance to make this roster is probably to beat out Kubel or Arcia at a spot in the lineup. It's not as far-fetched as I might have thought. Gardenhire has batted Parmelee higher in the lineup than Arcia and Kubel a couple of times. Tonight, Parmelee started in right field while Arica came off the bench. It's clear that Gardenhire has confidence in Paremelee - provided Parmelee has confidence in himself. "I don't worry about where I put him in the lineup," Gardy said after a recent game. "If he's confident, he can hit. It's all about a confident thing with him and not getting too deep into his own head and just going up there and swinging. When he does that, he's got no problems. And right now, he's not worried about a thing. He's just up there swinging. If we can keep that, we've got a good player." Parmelee has one other thing going for him: he's out of options. If he doesn't make the roster the Twins could lose him to another team, especially if he has a nice spring. He can't play center field, so his only other option is to be the 13th man. Even being out of options, that's an uphill battle because he bats left-handed and a right-handed hitter makes a lot more sense with this lineup. Perhaps if Ramirez is the right-handed center fielder, then maybe Parmelee would be an option. But maybe not even then. BACKUP CATCHERS This comes down to the Twins deciding which of three values do they want to embrace? Josmil Pinto Value = development. It's hard to tell if Pinto holds his own destiny in his hands this spring, but there is no doubt he does long-term. His goal right now is to show the Twins that he's ready, primarily defensively, or at least that he can continue to learn on the job from Suzuki. Even then they might want to keep him in AAA to play every day. I would think his odds go up if Kubel struggles, since Pinto could play there when he's not catching and learn defensively from Suzuki. If he does make it, he could also be the right-handed bench bat the Twins would like, which is a nice benefit. That might open a door for Bartlett (for another right-handed bat with defensive chops) or Parmelee (as a left-handed bat who is out of options) to be the 13th man. Eric Fryer Value = Veteran defense. On the one hand, they might think they already have this with Suzuki on the roster. On the other, I would never underestimate the Twins to value veterans who play strong defense. Chris Herrmann Value = Flexibility. If only he could also play center field. He can play first base or corner outfield, so keeping him opens the door to all kinds of mix and match possibilities with Bartlett, Colabello or Mastroianni and Ramirez as the 13th man. It would likely be bad news for Parmelee, because they would still need a right-handed bat. If I had to guess right now, I think I'd say that if Parmelee wins right field, the bench is Escobar, Mastroianni, Fryer and ... let's go with Bartlett. And if not, maybe they try to stash him as the 13th man.

Well, that was brutal. Instead, let's focus on something else: tonight marked the start of the Twins second turn through the rotation, and their seventh spring training game. The roles for players are clearer as are the spring training battles. So what do several Twins positional hopefuls need to do to make it to Chicago for Opening day? THE LINEUP Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki, Alex Presley What the need to do: Stay healthy. Pedro Florimon What he needs to do: Get healthy. For what it's worth, he took grounders with the rest of the infielders today. He looks like he's getting close to returning. Jason Kubel What he needs to do: Stay healthy and show he's not completely done. He hasn't done the latter yet, but there's a lot of time. Oswaldo Arcia What he needs to do: Last week, I would have said just be normal. As in, don't struggle too much, don't get too angry, don't go to cray-cray. The job in right field is his job to lose, but he can lose it. (Boy, can he lose it.) That was last week. Today, I'm not so sure. If Arcia does NOT win that spot, he will not be on the bench. He'll be in AAA. That takes care of he starting nine. If the Twins carry 13 position players, which would seem likely, it leaves four spots. Interestingly, assistant GM Rob Antony wasn't committing to that yesterday, saying "it hasn't been determined." If they only carry three spots, those spots are going to a backup infielder, catcher and outfielder. More to the point - a backup shortstop, catcher and center fielder, since there is nobody in the starting nine that can back up those spots. Keeping that in mind, let's look at some other names: BACKUP INFIELDERS Eduardo Escobar What he needs to do: He's the default choice, because of his age and flexibility. Bartlett hasn't demonstrated that he can play third base, and the Twins haven't tried him there this year yet, either. Doug Bernier can play second base, shortstop and third base like Escobar, but he's also eight years older than him. Doug Bernier What he needs to do: Escobar would need to get hurt or do something else for the organization to completely lose confidence in him. Jason Bartlett What he needs to do: First, he needs the Twins to carry at least 13 position players because if he's the shortstop, the Twins are going to need to also bring up either Escobar, Bernier, Deibinson Romero or Brandon Waring to back up third base. However, He makes a somewhat intriguing 13th player in that he can be a backup infielder AND could theoretically be a bat off of the bench. It's not totally clear the 34-year-old can do either, but he might at least be able to get on base. He also looks pretty good as a possible substitution for Florimon late in the game. Chris Colabello What he needs to do: There might be a couple of ways he makes the team: At DH - He needs two of Kubel, Arcia and Parmelee to look very, very bad while he looks very, very good. Even then, I'm not sure it's enough. He likely needs two of them to be unable to play, frankly. He makes another interesting 13th man candidate. With as many left-handed bats as the Twins have, it makes sense to have a right-handed bat that they can plug in occasionally. To win that spot, he needs to look quite a bit more appetizing than Jason Bartlett and Wilkin Ramirez, who we'll get to in a second. James Beresford, Deibinson Romero, Brandon Waring, etc. What they need to do: There needs to be a series of small miracles. It was interesting that Bereford started tonight at second base when most of the other starters were going to be in the Opening Day lineup. Dozier got to sit because he made the long trip to Jupiter yesterday, but that doesn't explain why Escobar and Bernier weren't there. Beresford also played third base yesterday. He would likely be option C as the utility infielder. BACKUP OUTFIELDERS Darin Mastroianni What he needs to do: Ideally, he would show he still has the wheels, if not the instincts, to play center field. He would show he has the wheels to do something when he's on base. He would show that he can get on base. But he doesn't need to do any of these things. He just needs to play center field passably enough that nobody panics. The center field situation is petty dire until Hicks finds himself or Buxton charges up here. Mastroianni is the default fix for now. Wilkin Ramirez What he needs to do: Ramirez is an interesting contrast to Mastroianni. He's less of a center fielder, but more of a hitter. If Mastroianni can't outplay him defensively, he could theoretically be the backup "center fielder," though I'm not totally sure the Twins would want to do that to him. He did play several games there for the Twins last year. But Ramirez has another way to stick on the roster if Mastroianni beats him out. He could be the 13th man. He's right-handed, has some power and gives the Twins a fifth outfielder. His primary competition would be Colabello. Aaron Hicks What he needs to do: Defensively, he's superior to everyone on this list including the starter Alex Pressly. But the Twins would need to be desperately worried about Mastroianni's and Ramirez's defense to limit Hicks' playing time to that of a backup (or short-side of the platoon) in the majors. They have to want him playing every day in AAA. Chris Parmelee What he needs to do: Parmelee's best chance to make this roster is probably to beat out Kubel or Arcia at a spot in the lineup. It's not as far-fetched as I might have thought. Gardenhire has batted Parmelee higher in the lineup than Arcia and Kubel a couple of times. Tonight, Parmelee started in right field while Arica came off the bench. It's clear that Gardenhire has confidence in Paremelee - provided Parmelee has confidence in himself. "I don't worry about where I put him in the lineup," Gardy said after a recent game. "If he's confident, he can hit. It's all about a confident thing with him and not getting too deep into his own head and just going up there and swinging. When he does that, he's got no problems. And right now, he's not worried about a thing. He's just up there swinging. If we can keep that, we've got a good player." Parmelee has one other thing going for him: he's out of options. If he doesn't make the roster the Twins could lose him to another team, especially if he has a nice spring. He can't play center field, so his only other option is to be the 13th man. Even being out of options, that's an uphill battle because he bats left-handed and a right-handed hitter makes a lot more sense with this lineup. Perhaps if Ramirez is the right-handed center fielder, then maybe Parmelee would be an option. But maybe not even then. BACKUP CATCHERS This comes down to the Twins deciding which of three values do they want to embrace? Josmil Pinto Value = development. It's hard to tell if Pinto holds his own destiny in his hands this spring, but there is no doubt he does long-term. His goal right now is to show the Twins that he's ready, primarily defensively, or at least that he can continue to learn on the job from Suzuki. Even then they might want to keep him in AAA to play every day. I would think his odds go up if Kubel struggles, since Pinto could play there when he's not catching and learn defensively from Suzuki. If he does make it, he could also be the right-handed bench bat the Twins would like, which is a nice benefit. That might open a door for Bartlett (for another right-handed bat with defensive chops) or Parmelee (as a left-handed bat who is out of options) to be the 13th man. Eric Fryer Value = Veteran defense. On the one hand, they might think they already have this with Suzuki on the roster. On the other, I would never underestimate the Twins to value veterans who play strong defense. Chris Herrmann Value = Flexibility. If only he could also play center field. He can play first base or corner outfield, so keeping him opens the door to all kinds of mix and match possibilities with Bartlett, Colabello or Mastroianni and Ramirez as the 13th man. It would likely be bad news for Parmelee, because they would still need a right-handed bat. If I had to guess right now, I think I'd say that if Parmelee wins right field, the bench is Escobar, Mastroianni, Fryer and ... let's go with Bartlett. And if not, maybe they try to stash him as the 13th man.

Here's what you really need to know about this game: Jupiter, Florida, where the Marlins play, is a long three-plus hour bus trip from Fort Myers. The bus leaves at 7:30 in the morning. It gets back something like 8:00 that night. The Twins, like every other team, tries to protect their best (veteranish) players from this as best they can. (And in the Twins case, they had a split squad game yesterday, meaning that nearly every veteran also played yesterday.) There was even a question in the pregame press conference with manager Ron Gardenhire about whether it meant anything that a veteran (and a high-priced veteran, at that) like today's staring pitcher Phil Hughes, had to make this trip. Like whether the team was sending Phil Hughes a message by making him take that trip. Gardenhire - who does every road trip, including the split squad days, by the way - said that the Twins expect their players to be pretty businesslike. "They didn't have a choice," Gardenhire replied bluntly. "We try not to send veterans on long bus rides, but when it comes up your turn, and you're lining them up to start the season, sometimes you've just got to suck it up." Just so I'm clear, there is no indication that Hughes had any problem with this. He said after the game he came down the night before to prepare. Failure to Detonate The story of the game was supposed to be Byron Buxton's first start, but Buxton went 0 for 5. The only thing that he did to impress was almost beating out a routine grounder just because he's so crazy fast. But he was still out. That didn't stop the Buxton frenzy. Gardenhire was asked about Buxton several times before the game and again after the game. Assistant GM Rob Antony was asked about Buxton in a pregame press conference. Phil Hughes was asked about Buxton after Hughes' start. And Buxton had a throng of reporters waiting for him after he dressed. One question: "Were you safe on the grounder?" You know what this means? Nothing. Or at least not to Buxton and not to the Twins. All it means is that a lot of writers aren't going to get the compelling story they wanted to write and a of Twins fans aren't going to get the compelling story they wanted to read. I'm confident we'll all get through this rough spot. Lineup Notes I Sam Deduno pitched but not until the fifth inning. It was assumed that Deduno would be legitimately competing with Scott Diamond and Vance Worley for the last spot in the rotation. But Diamond started a game already, Worley started a game already - and Deduno didn't pitch until after Phil Hughes and Ryan Pressly? Really? For what it's worth, when I asked Gardenhire before the game if everything in Deduno's shoulder was OK, Gardenhire replied "Everything's been good. No problems whatsover." After the game, when we asked for an evaluation of Deduno's performance, Gardenhire restated their goals. "We just want to make sure he's healthy, get him through his innings, and as we go, we'll stretch him out and see where we go from there. Right now, it's all about the health part and get through his innings." In my mind, I don't think the Twins know if Deduno is healthy, or at least if he can get healthy. If that sounds Deduno is going to have trouble grabbing that fifth spot, I think you're right. Lineup Notes II Eduardo Escobar started at third base today. That is likely because of the long trip, but it's worth noting that everyone seems confident that Escobar can play third base. (In fact, according to Gardenhire, the Twins thought that was his best spot when he was with the White Sox.) With a limited roster, an infield backup player is likely going to need to be able to play second base, shortstop and third base. Escobar can. Doug Bernier can. Today James Bereford showed that he can. But it's not clear yet that Jason Bartlett can. If we don't see him at the hot corner within the next couple of days, I have to think the backup infielder spot is Escobar's to lose. Barlett's hopes hang on the Twins decision whether to carry a 13th position player or 13th pitcher. A Bright Spot Chris Colabello got on base three times today, including two walks. That's his fifth walk in five (shortened) games this season. Colabello has made some mechanical adjustment, but after the game, he wanted to talk about being more comfortable and less anxious than he was last year. "It's more about just approaching your at-bats with a little more calm."

Wilkin Ramirez has had to demonstrate a lot of patience in his career. The 28-year-old finally made his way onto an Opening Day roster last year, only to have his season shortened by a concussion and ended by a broken tibia. But the Twins were patient too, re-signing him this offseason. Maybe he could surprise them again, like last spring training. Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise any more. Surrounded by Twins prospects in the late innings of a tie game with the Orioles, Ramirez delivered the decisive blow: a three-run blast over left center in a staggering ninth inning. The kids surprised too, finishing with a 9-2 win after being handed a 1-2 deficit in the late innings from the starting lineup. "I didn't have to start managing until I got the starters out of here," joked manager Ron Gardenhire. "That's what I just told those guys. 'You guys are in here high-fiving, but we didn't do nothing until you guys got out of the game.'" That's not entirely true. Vance Worley started the game and got some good things done: specifically, he threw strikes. Determined to put a miserable 2013 behind his, he's come into camp completely healthy, lighter and with confidence in his arm slot, which is something he couldn't say last year. He threw two scoreless innings, although he was helped by an over-the-outfield-wall catch by Darin Mastroianni. Ron Gardenhire liked what he saw. "I liked what he did," said Gardenhire. "He had a good angle going down. He threw some really nice tight breaking balls that were down in the zone. Worked fast. Was throwing it over. They hit a couple of balls on him, but he went right at them." The teams traded runs in the fourth. Ramirez picked up the first of his four RBI on a single that drove in Chris Colabello (who had been walked for the second time). But the Orioles responded with their first run when Aaron Thompson misplayed a dribbler off the bat of Nelson Cruz that plated Nick Markakis. The Twins fell behind in the 6th inning. Trevor May had recorded four outs and Gardenhire liked what he saw, specifically the changeups May was throwing. Unfortunately, Orioles slugger Chris Davis, who hit 53 home runs last year, liked what he saw too. "I elevated one that [Davis] elevated right back," reflected May. The solo shot put the Twins into a 2-1 hole. It turned out OK - the pitching prospect was just setting the table for some of his minor league teammates. Infielders Danny Santana and James Bereford both played on the AA New Britain Rock Cats with May last year. In the eighth inning they worked together to tie the game when Beresford singled and Santana drove him home with a triple. That ended up being a precursor to the fireworks in the final frame. Top prospect Byron Buxton lit the fuse and nearly provided a memorable explosion. He hit a rocket line drive that cleared the center fielder's head and bounced (sigh) OVER the wall for a ground rule double. Had it not, fans might have seen a rare inside-the-park home run on a ball in which nobody stumbled or took a odd bounce. Buxton was rounding second base as it cleared over the wall. "I would have liked to have seen him running that thing out," mentioned Gardenhire. "After it bounced out, I was kid of disappointed." That feeling likely dissipated quickly. Buxton was driven in two batters later by prospect Max Kepler before Ramirez's rocket shot. With just 70 games of big league experience, Ramirez is looking to surprise people the same way he did last year coming out of spring training. "He's pretty sure of himself," says Gardenhire. "Confident, confident young man. He's healthy. He made my team last year doing the same thing and he knows what's at stake here, so he's coming out and ready to play." The kids continued to follow his lead, including Santana, whose locker was right next to Ramirez in the visiting clubhouse. Santana hit his second triple of the game later in the ninth, driving in two more runs. The speedy shortstop has left an impression with Gardenhire. "As I've told people, this guy's pretty exciting. He's got jets. I'm pretty confident when he walks up to the plate something is going to happen." Plenty happened today, even if Twins fans had to wait until the late innings for it. It's only fitting that in a game that required patience, Wilkin Ramirez came through.

After reaching Detroit's AAA Toledo team as a 21-year-old, Hoffman spent his third full year with them last year as a 24-year-old. But the left-handed reliever's stats showed a change. Last year, Hoffman struck out 35 batters in 35 innings. He had never come close to that rate previously. He thinks he knows why. "The pitching coach, who is now the coordinator of Detroit, AJ Sager, told me I needed to learn to throw my slider for a strike," says Hoffman. You don't really think about using it as a strikeout pitch. He goes 'You need to be able to throw that 0-1, 0-0, 2-0, to keep hitters off balance.' "I took that to heart, went home and worked on throwing it as a strike. I would actually go out [in games] and throw 15 pitches and I'd throw 13 sliders. It was just keeping hitters more off balance than anything. You're a little more effective when you take that to heart, which you don't think about." Hitters figured out the change, so Hoffman further pivoted to keep them off balance. "You change it up," replied Hoffman. "You don't want them to get 'Oh, yeah, he's just going to throw sliders at you.' You're going to change it up. One outing is strictly fastballs. Or I'll throw it and pitch backwards to guys. It's one of those weird little things that you don't think about until they sit down and tell you." The results suggests that Hoffman may have turned a corner just prior to the Twins finding him. It wasn't a coincidence that he found the Twins, either. "[My agent] sat me down, and he has a top five list of where he would like us to go and a top five list of where we're willing to consider. And Minnesota was on there. And we had a couple of other teams, but all-in-all, the best opportunity was here to maybe get a call up." Hoffman and his agent looked at the Twins roster and saw plenty of left-handers, but most are young left-handed starters. I wonder if they considered that Scott Diamond might need to be in the bullpen if he doesn't make the rotation, since he's out of options. But while Hoffman isn't sure his choice will lead to a call-up, he feels like right now, he made a good decision. Because he's happy. "Don't tell my secret: it's been awesome. Whether I get called up or not, it's been an absolutely awesome experience for two weeks already."

In today's 6-3 loss to the Tampa Rays, the Twins pitchers didn't have a great day. Starting was Ricky Nolasco, whose prefix is already slowly turning from "Mr." into "Most Expensive Free Agent the Twins Ever Signed." (MEFATES?) Anyway, Mr. Nolasco threw two scoreless innings, but five of the seven opposing batters hit the ball hard. Fortunately, the last of those hard hits was right at first baseman Chris Colabello to turn a nifty double-play. I'm not saying there should be any concern. It's March 2nd. I'm just saying there is clearly work to do. The blast that hurt the most was given up by Anthony Swarzak to Evan Longoria. Longoria does stuff like that against all kinds of pitchers and nobody expects Swarzak to be immune. But Swarzak also gave up three other hits to guys not named Longoria, albeit all of them to pretty good hitters. Swarzak isn't on anyone's list of concerns this year, due to some very effective pitching last year. But it's not like his strikeout rate spiked or a walk rate plummeted. He just gave up a lot fewer home runs and hits. Today, that formula didn't seem as comforting as yesterday. We also got to see the recently acquired left-hander Brooks Raley, who induced three efficient ground balls in his first inning and then watched several pitches get tattooed to left field in his second inning. Finally, we got to see top pitching prospect Alex Meyer's 95+ mph fastball up close. Unfortunately, the Rays batters were seeing it too. He gave up a run in each inning and four hits total, though he wasn't helped by his defense in the eighth inning. One could draw a comparison from this game to last year's pitching woes and a slew of other memorable six-run games, but that would be a little silly. This was just an early spring training game featuring a couple of big leaguers and a lot of minor leaguers and nobody should feel too bad about losing to the Rays in any case. So instead, let's call it a reminder that the Twins this year are likely going to go as far as their pitching will take them. To their credit, they showed they understand this with their offseason moves. But those moves still need to work. Twins Takes There was an interesting subplot in today's game. Versus Tampa Bay's young right-handed phenom Alex Cobb, manager Ron Gardenhire started Jason Kubel, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Parmelee. The three of them are all left-handed corner outfield/designated hitters, and there is a decent chance that only two of them come north with the team. Kubel, who most assume will be the team's primary designated hitter, started in left field. He went 0-3, though he had some hard hits. Batting as the designated hitter was Chris Parmelee, who homered yesterday. He also hit fifth, one spot in front of Oswaldo Arcia, which struck me as a little odd, seeing as I've assumed Arcia would make the team over Parmelee. Parmelee singled again today. Arcia, who played right field, hit a home run in the fifth inning. We've talked a lot about how "options" may make forecasting a bullpen a little tricky, but I wonder they might not have an impact here, too. Parmelee is out of options. Arcia is not. And Kubel was awfully fragile last year. If the Twins believe Parmelee is ready to turn the corner, it might make the most sense long-term to go north with Kubel and Parmelee. They could keep Arcia in reserve at Rochester for a couple months in case Kubel goes down or Parmelee flails. Keep an eye on how each of them are used.

What are pitchers focusing on in the first couple of spring training games? It's pretty basic, but requires some balance. Yesterday's starting pitcher, Scott Diamond, explained "At this point right now, first outing, I'm trying to attack the zone. My focus right now is working down." Closer Glen Perkins, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning, echoed that sentiment. "I just wanna command the ball. I want to throw strikes. I want to get ahead of hitters and keep the ball down, which after [Grady] Sizemore, I did a pretty good job of." And despite the inevitable stories about guys working on new pitches, that means mostly airing out fastballs. Perkins threw almost exclusively fastballs. "I threw fastballs for strikes and threw one slider to get AJ [Pierzynski] at the end. I wasn't planning on throwing a slider. Josmil called one and that was a good time." Diamond mixed things up a bit more. "I threw everything. Only a couple changeups. Only a couple curveballs. Mostly fastball-happy." They hope that by doing so, they gain a little insight that they can use later. Diamond talked to pitching coach Rick Anderson after his outing about being fluid. "[Anderson] said that some of those pitches today I was nice and easy and fluid with, and some of them were a little tight. And when I'm a little tighter, that really restricts my motion. Or at least delayed action on my baseball, on my pitch." Perkins emphasized that there is a balancing act surrounding getting oneself ready. On the one hand, "I'm not into game situations. I just want to make sure I'm throwing my pitches. That's first and foremost, making sure that the pitches are ready to go." But on the other hand, part of getting ready is proving to himself that he is ready. "What got me into this position is coming to camp ready to go, ready to compete, going out there and throwing well. I don't want to have to make excuses that it's only spring training so my results don't matter. I want to go out and I want to pitch well. I think that instills confidence in me and it instills confidence in the coaching staff." But above all, the goal is to stay healthy. Perkins is looking to avoid over-stressing his arm. "I want to find that happy medium of effort and velocity and not going out there and having to overextend, having to overthrow. Where it comes out easy, it comes out good. You find that balance as the spring goes on." While Diamond wonders if some of his trouble last year weren't a result of not being healthy in the spring. "Last year in spring training, being hurt, facing GCL-Rookie ball guys? To be able to come out [this] spring in this kind of atmosphere, get the heart pumping a little bit, it's definitely going to help me get better adjusted for the season." So far, so good for Diamond. He's very happy to report he felt perfectly fine. "That's the big thing. Felt really good. Felt strong for the most part. Little anxious, though." That's natural. Nerves can be another thing to work on in spring training.

What was the fan reaction in Hammond Stadium following the gut-punching news about Miguel Sano? Honestly, it was smiles. Basking, wondrous smiles expressed with the eyes and shoulders moreso than the lips. Or at least that what I saw as I walked up to the Hammond Stadium gates. Yes, the Twins had received the worst possible news for one of their cornerstone prospects. But it was still a home opener, still 80 degrees and sunny, still a record-sized crowd watching a baseball game. The first couple innings helped the mood. The Twins lineup jumped all over Red Sox starter Allen Webster, who is fighting to keep his wildish mid-90s fastball out of Pawtucket this year, and being opposed by the Red Sox crowded rotation. The Twins didn't help his cause. If only you really could tell everything you wanted to know about a season by that first game, first at-bat, first pitch. If so, we'd know that Brian Dozier's power last year was real. His first at-bat concluded with a double off the left field gap's wall, missing a home run by a couple of feet. If so, Joe Mauer's move to first base would turn him into an RBI machine. He immediately drove Dozier home. If so, the concerns about the Twins offense this year would be baseless. They plated three and knocked Webster from the game before he could finish his second inning. That's not how it works, of course. The real omen of the day was the Sano news. It's another delay for a rebuild that's going into it's fourth year. It always hurts to lose a year of player development, but it's worth noting that the important clocks hasn't begun to tick for Sano. He's only 20, and this doesn't impact his "option" years, let alone his player service time. Historically, it's been much worse. The Twins lost Francisco Liriano for a year within months of him making the team. They lost Mauer for most of his first full year in his first game. And Jason Kubel in his first offseason. And Morneau when he was hit by Ron Villone.... Sigh. Talk about an angle that doesn't get enough talk. How come so many of the Twins top prospects have been injured just as they are reaching the majors? Does that happen to any other franchise? How different could the last decade have been? And how about we hunt down the White Sox fan with the little voodoo doll and beat the snot out of him. For that job, I nominate just about anyone except Tony Oliva. As I left Hammond stadium, I saw an older man tussling in the grass with a couple of toddlers. He stopped long enough for their mom to take an photo with his head upside down on the short grass. He got up and laughed and told his friends it was time to go It was Oliva. The kids had no idea who he was. The dad didn't either. The mom suspected it was Oliva but admitted that when he stopped while he was walking past the kids, she thought he was going to scold them for wrestling and tearing up the grass on the concourse. Nope. Instead, a day that started out with incredibly depressing (and seemingly inevitable) news ended with an impromptu joyful moment between rugrats and a Twins legend on the walkway to Hammond. Short of finding the Sox voodoo guy, maybe this is how we shake ourselves from this Minnesota sports funk. If not, at least it uncovered some smiles.