Hi Twins fans,

Well here we are winding down spring training 2010.  What a bitter-sweet day it was for Twins fans yesterday.  Feeling very low with the news that Joe Nathan will be lost for the season having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, the Twins went from the “outhouse to the Penthouse” when they found out that Joe Mauer finally signed his contract and will be locked in to the Twins up to 2018.  What a nice contract for Joe Mauer and how happy Twins fans are he will be a Twin for a long time.

Here are some happenings from spring training:

1.  The Twins have their final off day in spring training Monday, March 22nd and will play a game every day until their break camp on the 1st of April.  It will be a very busy schedule for the Twins.  Now is the time where the Twins players/pitchers start to bear down on their at bats and innings pitched to get ready for the start of the season.

2.  Now that Joe Nathan is out for the year, who closes for the Twins?  That’s a big question and the Twins will try and sort things out in the final two weeks.  You can’t really try out a closer in spring training, but I am sure you will see some of the relievers like Pat Neshek, Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, and Jesse Crain work in the late innings of the final Grapefruit League games to try and get them used to pitching late in a game.  And don’t forget rookie RHP Anthony Slama.  He has been the closer the last two seasons with New Britain and Rochester and he has pitched impressively in early spring training games.

3.  These players/pitchers have been impressive in the Twins minor league camp.  Keep in mind Minor League Camp has been open just over a week, but RHP Kyle Gibson (last years number one draft pick) has opened a few eyes.  And RHP Shooter Hunt (a top sandwich pick two years ago) has also pitched well.  It’s good to see Shooter Hunt back.  RHP Loek Van Mil was in camp with the Twins but didn’t pitch (sore shoulder) and he did pitch off the mound on Sunday.  Van Mil will probably start the season at AA New Britain.  He’s the 7′ 1″ pitcher from the Netherlands.  OF Aaron Hicks has also impressed and Hicks will probably start the season at High-A Fort Myers.

4.  So the other day my wife and I are at the grocery store and just as Nancy is dropping me off to slip in to pick up a couple of things we see this lady slip and fall in the parking lot.  It was raining and she took quite a fall.  I got out of the car and helped her up and escorted her to shelter and went and got the store manager to help out.  I could tell she was really hurting and I told her she should call an ambulance and go to the hospital.  She refused, but I stuck with her until she got some help from her neighbor lady friends.  She apologized and said her husband was in Arizona with the Los Angeles Dodgers in spring training.  Turned out it was Bob Schaefer’s wife (whom I did not know),  and Bob Schaefer is the Dodgers bench coach.  What a small world.

That’s all for this time folks.  More mid-week.  Take care and keep rooting for the Twins.

“Touch ‘em All,”

JG

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.