Play Ball!!

About two weeks ago, Twins pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in Fort Myers, Florida. Today the Twins play their first spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles. Here is some of what the team should look for this spring and what they need to figure out before the start of the season:

• How the pitching rotation will look: Scott Diamond, who might be the “ace” of the rotation, recently had minor elbow surgery and may miss Opening Day but I expect he will be the #1 starter when he comes back. Other probable starters include Vance Worley, Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey (who are all new to the Twins) and Liam Hendricks. Kyle Gibson and Rich Harden also may make the rotation later on in the season, but I think they will start in the minors. The rotation may look like this when Diamond gets healthy: 1. Diamond, 2. Worley, 3. Correia, 4. Pelfrey, 5. Hendricks, but there are so many new pitchers I had to look online just to see who’s on the team! Worley may be the Opening Day starter if Diamond isn’t ready.

• Who will be the starting center fielder: Outfielders Denard Span (who shouldn’t have been traded) and Ben Revere were traded this off-season, so the Twins will have to decide who will play center field on Opening Day. I expect Darin Mastroianni to be the guy but Joe Benson and Aaron Hicks are candidates as well.

• What the bullpen will look like: Glen Perkins will likely be the closer and Jared Burton the setup man. The Twins also have Trevor May, Alex Burnett, Casey Fien, Anthony Swarzak and Tyler Robertson (and probably some more).

Basically, I don’t know much about the 2013 Twins. The team still has fan favorites Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau but they also have a lot of new guys which I guess is good after two straight years of 90+ losses! This should be a VERY interesting season!

Written by: Sam Graves