Article: And So It Begins.....

[John Bonnes]

Let's start with the annual reminder: if you regularly read Twins Daily and haven't visited Fort Myers for spring training, you're doing life wrong.

 

For baseball fans, spring training is an all-you-can-buffet after a doctor-enforced diet. Sure, the quality suffers a bit, but baseball is everywhere, and you're likely to find things you had forgotten existed. Hey - is that Kenny Vargas next to the potstickers? Or how about Ryan Pressly next to the mandarin slices? Throw a spoonful of Ryan Sweeney on my plate, wouldja….?Then there are the main courses, where you can really get your fill. The path between the players locker room and the practice fields is lined on both sides by fans every morning. It's for good reason. The players are at their most open, their most generous; it's spring for them, too. And then you walk over to the bleachers for a front row seat while Tom Kelly chatters up classic baseball-ese to a minor leaguer who had drawn his attention.

 

Also, it's 80 degrees and sunny today. It’s 80 degrees and sunny every day.

 

I don't blame you for not getting here yet. It took me far too long to properly soak in a spring training. It might be too late for you to make it this year (though maybe not; you've got a whole month left). But do yourself a favor and make spring training a priority, and the sooner the better as every year it gets a little larger, a little more structured and a little more commercial.

 

But that’s because it’s awesome.

 

The Spring Training Schedule

 

The Grapefruit League's schedule is unbalanced like the MLB schedule, but even more so. Teams tend to play teams in their area of Florida to reduce the bus travel. For the Twins, that means playing 18 of their 33 spring training games versus just three teams:

• The Orioles, who are about 1.5 hours north along the same (gulf side) coast as Fort Myers.
• The Pirates, who are just about 15 minutes north of the Orioles.
• The Red Sox, who are located just down the street in Fort Myers.

The Twins will play seven other teams, usually once at home and once on the road. Oddly, they won't get to face many teams in the American League. All the ones they will face are all in the AL East: Toronto twice, the Yankees twice, the Orioles six times, the Rays three times and the Red Sox seven times. There's nothing strategic about this; the other teams just happen to have spring training in Arizona or in the middle or east coast of Florida.

 

So, if you're watching scores and thinking to yourself, "Didn't we just face them?" - yes, yes we did.

 

Watching the Lineups

 

The lineup for this afternoon’s inaugural game versus the Red Sox was released yesterday, and those watching position battles should be thrilled. Byron Buxton (CF), Oswaldo Arcia (LF) and John Ryan Murphy (C ) all made the cut, plus we get our first glimpse of Byung-Ho Park in a game and Miguel Sano in right field.

 

The more casual fan will be more interested in Thursday night’s home opener. Besides kicking off the home season, it will also televised on FSN, so you can expect manager Paul Molitor to be starting a bunch of the anticipated starters. I think you can safely expect too see Kurt Suzuki, Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, Trevor Plouffe & Eddie Rosario in the same spots they'll be on Opening Day.

 

I’m going to try obsessing about lineups and substitutions this spring training quite a bit more than most would deem healthy. But there’s a reason for that. I think you can learn a lot from watching how the manager dishes out playing time and innings. Those opportunities are commodities, and the players know it.

 

Lineups reflect a manager's priorities and often communicate his thoughts more clearly (or earlier) than his words. I guarantee you that players obsess about whether they are given a chance to prove themselves more often or earlier in a game than the guys against whom they're competing.

 

Plus, a lot of factors can go into those decisions. For big games, the veterans are often showcased. But veterans also won’t be asked to play two days in a row early in camp. Meanwhile, guys trying to make the club might play nearly every day. Coaches might want to see a guy early in camp with who they’re unfamiliar. Before anyone is cut, the team will want to feel like they've given them a chance to show what they can do. And of course, pitchers' workloads must be monitored.

 

Road games provide their own issues. There is an invisible hierarchy for which veterans go on the long road trips like the trek across the state to play the Marlins But each road game lineup needs to have five "regulars". Teams are hesitant to make any of their regulars go on back-to-back road trips early. And the team needs to plan ahead for split squad games, when there are 40 roster spots instead of just 25.

 

It’s likely that today’s lineup is as much a result of who Molitor wanted to start on Thursday night as anything else. It’ll be interesting to see if he lets Buxton and Sano play two days in a row this early. If not, I’ll speculate that Thursday’s lineup looks something like this:

 

C – Suzuki

1B – Mauer

2b – Dozier

SS – Escobar

3B – Plouffe

LF – Rosario

CF – Danny Santana?

RF – Max Kepler?

DH - Byung-Ho Park

 

That's pure speculation and mostly a thought exercise on my part. In any case, I want to start paying attention to who is being granted playing time and when. Let’s track that as we go through this March and see if it tells us anything.

 

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[h2oface]

I can't see the Twins, but with 15 teams using 10 ballparks all in the megaslopolis around Phoenix, the Cactus League is a great place to land for a baseball fan as well, and the road games are not affected like in Florida.

http://www.cactusleague.com/map.php

 

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by h2oface

[REPETE]

We've had the good fortune of watching Twins spring training for many years, from '02 - 13, but this is now the 3rd year we haven't gotten there.  In '14, we saw the Twins play at Port St Lucie (NYM), and last year was Tampa (Tor).  While nothing like being at the home park, it is fun to see the different venues, so if you're down there, don't be afraid to take a little road trip yourself!

One note; leave early.  FL traffic is horrible in March, and there are often bad accidents or road construction that leads to longer than expected trips.  Worst case, you get to the ballpark early, and that's when lots of fun can be had! 

[barbarosa]

Ya know, I turned on MLB last night and there it was...baseball.  Not college, not reruns but real live professional baseball.  I got all warm inside and felt a sudden peaceful, easy feeling.  My son came in and sat down wanting only to know if this was live...when I said yes...he just sighed and smiled.  We watched baseball together.

 

Life is good again. 

 

I don't know how the Twins will fair, all I know is I get to watch them again.  Win or lose, bitch or yell with happiness....I get to watch the Twins!

 

Hope you all enjoy the season, good bad or ugly...it will be great!

[Craig Arko]

 

Ya know, I turned on MLB last night and there it was...baseball.  Not college, not reruns but real live professional baseball.  I got all warm inside and felt a sudden peaceful, easy feeling.  My son came in and sat down wanting only to know if this was live...when I said yes...he just sighed and smiled.  We watched baseball together.

 

Life is good again. 

 

I don't know how the Twins will fair, all I know is I get to watch them again.  Win or lose, bitch or yell with happiness....I get to watch the Twins!

 

Hope you all enjoy the season, good bad or ugly...it will be great!

Ain't that the truth. 

[Vanimal46]

http://images.sportsworldreport.com/data/images/full/7063/mlb-memes.jpg?w=640

FREEDOM!!!!!

[Loosey]

I was down there a few weeks ago, and I would recommend if you don't get to Fort Myers during "real" spring training and are in the area the last few weeks of February still head down to Hammond.  A lot of players were working out and doing drills, etc.  There were probably only about 25 fans there as well so the players are pretty approachable as well if you are respectful and are aware they are there to work.

[brvama]

It is indeed an exciting time. Can't wait the real games to begin. Because of a family commitment I'm headed to AZ Easter week. Hope to catch the Royals & Indians game on 3/23. Should be fun to do a little scouting. First spring training trip. Next year it's got to be FL and the Twins. After all it's #1 on my bucket list.

[zenser]

I hope Sano plays the OF today so there will be a thread or two about the topic.  Oh wait....

[Comrade Bork]

Is this on the radio or online anywhere?

[CampQ]

I have the audio from the MLB At Bat app, but it ain't free

[Squirrel]

I love ST. Sun, warmth, green grass that is immaculate, anything is still possible, whether or not probable, accessable practice fields ... it's just a great place to be. Lots of people around watching this and that. My favorite is watching the drilling going on on the TK half field. Today it was pitchers fielding drills. Great. And what a confluence of past, present and future. 

[CampQ]

I'm in DC Metro. I saw today that Josh Willingham is at the Nationals's camp, and Jacque Jones is their assistant hitting coach

[Guest]

I didn't notice until I read John's post, but it's odd that the Twins and Rays only face one another 3 times this spring. The Rays' camp in Port Charlotte is closer to Ft Myers than either Sarasota (Orioles) or Bradenton (Pirates). Usually, they face off 4-5 times, at least.

 

I'd just echo what others are saying, if you can find a way to do it, a trip to ST is well worth it. I've gone down almost every year for the past 10 or so and it is probably the one thing I look forward to the most.

 

I'll be down there March 14-23 this spring, hanging out by the minor league fields and catching a few Twins games, as well. Hope to see some of you there.

[brvama]

I'd like to give a shout out to all those that share their ST observations and experiences. Thank you all!

[twinsnorth49]

I'm always excited as hell when baseball season begins again, especially so when my hockey team sucks ass.

 

Win Twins!

[smackle]

We were there in '13 and had a wonderful time. My kid had his first taste of beer (see avatar), I clearly remember my sister asking "is that guy's name seriously Oswaldo?", and there is just nothing like spring training baseball after a long MN winter. 

 

I'm really enjoying the Hammond happenings thread and we hope to get back there soon.