MLB Team Report – Minnesota Twins – INSIDE PITCH
In a week’s time this past offseason, the Twins traded both players (Denard Span and Ben Revere) that manned center field (and batted leadoff) in 2012, making the position battles wide open. Well, with three weeks to go before the start of the 2013 season, Aaron Hicks’ play is making a strong case that the battle is over.
The Twins traded Span and Revere — both fan favorites — to shore up their depleted pitching staff and have been gambling that a young player would step up to fill the spot. Joe Benson, Darrin Mastroianni and Hicks stepped into the fray. And even though Mastroianni injured his hamstring recently, Hicks appears to be closing the door, regardless.
On Thursday, Hicks hit three home runs in the Twins’ 10-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Although they were wind-aided blasts, the power is not an anomaly as Hicks has homered five times in his past three games.
Hicks, who is a solid defender, said he hadn’t hit three homers in a game since high school, so the power may come as a bit of a surprise. And while some have speculated that his power may be better used elsewhere in the batting order, it will be welcome at leadoff, where Revere, in 1,064 plate appearances over two seasons, had no home runs.
For Hicks, the three homers gave him a chance to helps his team.
“Just get on base, steal a bag, help my team win ballgames,” Hicks told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “That’s all I tried to do. Got three home runs and we ended up winning the ballgame.”
Hicks (who played Class AA ball last season) helped the Twins get the win, and he may just have solidified himself a starting spot on opening day, to boot.
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MLB Team Report – Minnesota Twins – NOTES, QUOTES
–RHP Kyle Gibson, who is coming back from offseason elbow surgery, threw three wild pitches in one inning in his outing against the Phillies on March 7. Working 2 1/3 innings, Gibson’s ERA rose from 2.45 to 10.50 after being charged with six earned runs on eight hits and a walk. But Gibson was more concerned for his catcher Chris Hermann (who had to chase down the wild pitches) than he was of the outing.
“Just bad pitches,” Gibson told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I wasn’t really making it easy on him. I wasn’t crossing him up on a pitch; I was crossing him up on location. If it’s a two-seamer that cuts, he doesn’t have much of a chance.”
–OF Chris Parmelee was scratched from Thursday’s game against the Boston Red Sox due a tight right groin. Parmelee, who is slated to be the team’s starting fight fielder, was scheduled to be the DH in a split-squad game against Boston, but he tested his leg before the game and was lifted from the lineup for Eduardo Escobar. The Twins won’t take any chances with Parmelee. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told the Pioneer Press that Parmelee would be out “a few days here, I’m sure.”
–LHP Scott Diamond has his sights set on March 18 (a home game against the Miami Marlins) as the date of his spring training debut. Diamond had bone chips removed from his throwing elbow in December and has been doing bullpen work to gradually get his arm up to speed.
“At that point, it’s just trying to get my pitch count up,” Diamond told the Pioneer Press. “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. It’s going to be tight. At this point, I don’t think we’ve ruled anything out yet, but it’s going to be down to the wire.”
–OF Joe Benson, who is battling for a position in the Twins outfield, struck out four times against the Red Sox on Thursday, but he was back in the lineup against Boston on Friday. He did not help himself at the plate, going 0-for-4 (three fly outs and a ground out) but he made a nice running catch in right field. With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Benson made a nice, running, over-the-shoulder catch in deep right field to end the inning.
–RHP Mike Pelfrey, who had Tommy John surgery in April 2012, started against the Red Sox on Friday. In his third outing of the spring, Pelfrey worked three innings, with four strikeouts, one walk, and gave up two hits but no runs. So far, he appears ahead of schedule in his rehab.
“He’s doing great. We’ve worked so hard,” Gardenhire told FSN North. “The thing about him is he is a consummate professional. He’s going about his business. I think the first inning he got a little goosey out there, but he has been out for a while. He settled down in the second and started using his fastball a little better, moving it in and out. And everything works off that for him. He’s fun to watch.”
–RHP Deolis Guerra returned to the Twins clubhouse from Puerto Rico with an undisclosed injury. He was being evaluated during the Twins-Red Sox game on Thursday. No further information was available.
BY THE NUMBERS: .407 — Aaron Hicks’ batting average after a stellar week in which he hit five home runs in three games. Against the Phillies on Thursday, Hicks went 4-for-5 with three home runs, scoring four runs and knocking in six.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Of course I wanted to go for the fourth one. I had two pitches to do it on, missed both of them. Got a changeup, broken-bat base hit. Died a hero but got two runs in.” — Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks on his 4-for-5, three home-run day against the Phillies. His broken-bat single knocked in two more runs for a total of six in the game.
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MLB Team Report – Minnesota Twins – ROSTER REPORT
PROJECTED ROTATION:
1. LHP Scott Diamond
2. RHP Vance Worley
3. RHP Kevin Correia
4. RHP Mike Pelfrey
5. RHP Liam Hendriks
The Twins are hoping a series of free-agent signings will give them a better rotation than the won that posted the American League’s worst ERA last season, but there are plenty of questions. All three of the new additions (Worley, Correia and Pelfrey) are new to the American League, and there doesn’t appear to be a top-flight starter in the group. Right-hander Kyle Gibson could find his way into the rotation later this season.
PROJECTED BULLPEN:
LHP Glen Perkins (closer)
RHP Jared Burton
RHP Alex Burnett
LHP Brian Duensing
RHP Casey Fien
RHP Josh Roenicke
RHP Tim Wood
Perkins has been the setup man the last two years and moved into the closer’s role late last season with Matt Capps hurt. He will have the job on a full-time basis this year, with Burton as the setup man. There are plenty of questions in the bullpen beyond those two, and the Twins could have a number of spots up for grabs. Anthony Swarzak will have to recover from fractured ribs to start the season with the team.
PROJECTED LINEUP:
1. CF Aaron Hicks
2. 2B Jamey Carroll
3. C Joe Mauer
4. LF Josh Willingham
5. 1B Justin Morneau
6. 3B Trevor Plouffe
7. DH Ryan Doumit
8. RF Chris Parmelee
9. SS Pedro Florimon
The Twins should have a solid middle of the order, returning the American League’s batting average runner-up in Mauer and one of the league’s top sluggers in Willingham. If Morneau is healthy and the Twins can get more consistency from Plouffe, they could score plenty of runs. Their big question is at the top of the order, where Hicks will get the first shot at the center field and leadoff jobs.
TOP ROOKIES: CF Aaron Hicks hit .286 at Class AA New Britain (Conn.) last season, posting a .384 on-base percentage and stealing 32 bases. He will get a shot at the open center field job, as he tries to beat out Darin Mastroianni and Joe Benson. RF Chris Parmelee hit .338 at Class AAA Rochester (N.Y.) last season, slugging 17 homers in just 64 games. He struggled in limited action with the Twins last year but could improve with more consistent at-bats.
MEDICAL WATCH:
–RHP Nick Blackburn (right elbow surgery in October 2012; right wrist surgery in January 2013) had a bone chip removed from his elbow but needed another operation to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. That will likely keep Blackburn from competing for a rotation spot.
–LHP Scott Diamond (left elbow surgery in December 2012) had bone chips removed. He threw a 35-pitch bullpen session from 58 feet recently, and was scheduled to throw a full bullpen session from the mound two days later.
–OF Darin Mastroianni (strained left hamstring) could miss several days of spring action. Mastroianni said the injury is nothing serious, but he had also injured his hamstring in December while playing winter ball in Venezuela.
–RHP Mike Pelfrey (Tommy John surgery in April 2012) should be ready for the start of the season.
–RHP Anthony Swarzak (fractured ribs) could miss up to four weeks after learning on Feb. 4 he had fractured two ribs. He will be behind as the Twins start spring training but still could earn a spot in the bullpen.
–LF Josh Willingham (ligament sprain in left shoulder) missed the final eight games of the 2012 season.
