Article: Report From The Fort: Saturday In The Park

[Parker Hageman]

The Minnesota Twins won just one of seven games against the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016. Spring training results are meaningless overall but a convincing 6-2 win over the Blue Jays travel squad at Hammond Stadium might just inspire the organization to do better during the regular season, right? Maybe? No? Probably not.

 

Miguel Sano highlighted the day with a two-run blast in the third. Max Kepler finally came alive and tagged two doubles. Outfielder Drew Stubbs pushed the total to six with a two-run double in the eighth. Ervin Santana scattered five hits but didn’t allow a run to score and the bullpen assortment limited the Blue Jays to just three hits over six innings.

 

Hector Santiago will make his second start for the Twins on Sunday against the Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach. Tyler Duffey will also get some innings, hoping to improve upon his last outing where he allowed six runs in the 19-0 debacle against Tampa Bay.

 

More notes from Saturday in camp…** Ervin Santana, the Twins’ first pitcher to crack the three inning mark this spring, said he was working on his changeup, trying to get comfortable throwing it to both lefties and righties. In his outing, he said he threw about ten changeups.

 

Santana’s slider is his out pitch but the changeup helps keep hitters off-balance and off his slider. In 2016, he threw his changeup as 8 percent of his mix while opponents hit .352 off of it.

 

Since it is a feel pitch, however, it takes some time to get it down. Santana said he doesn’t shy away from opening up his entire arsenal during spring training games, something that he said some pitchers avoid at times. In the third, he threw several changeups up-and-away but continued to dispatch that pitch.

 

“There are some people who go out there and pitch and they don’t have the feel for one type of pitch so they don’t throw it anymore,” Santana said. “I don’t. I just keep throwing it.”

 

Molitor agreed with that mindset. “What I liked is that even though he didn’t quite have a good feel for it, he kept throwing it.”

 

** Miguel Sano hit a rocket of a home run to left center field. Sano had been struggling this spring simply to make contact. On Friday, Molitor said that the Twins’ third baseman was having some troubles picking up the spin of the baseball and had been fooled on breaking stuff. On the other hand, Sano was just a tick off of the fastball in his swing, Molitor believed.

 

With a 3-0 count in the third, the Twins gave Sano the green light and he pounded a fastball over the left-center field fence to put the team up by three. After relaying the green light sign to third base coach Gene Glynn, Molitor said he turned to Joe Mauer before the 3-0 pitch and asked if Mauer thought Blue Jays pitcher Mark Bolsinger would throw a slider in that situation. Sano hit the home run on the fastball and Mauer replied “He should have.”

 

“He likes to swing 3-0, he tells me all the time,” Molitor said. “He’s in scoring position in the box.”

 

Molitor said that he enjoyed that Sano flashed a short, compact swing on the ball rather than some of his more wild, pull-heavy ones.

 

** Molitor was asked if that was the first time this spring he’s given the green light on 3-0. Molitor said that he has given the sign several times but he felt that only a few of the hitters have taken the opportunity to swing.

 

“It’s one of those things that you hopefully find out who is fearlessly there,” Molitor said. “You can’t worry about the time where you pop it up or roll it over, you just try to have a plan and execute it.”

 

The Twins haven’t shown much of a tendency to swing during 3-0 counts in the past. Last season they had 115 plate appearances with 3-0 counts. They swung at just 4.9 percent of pitches seen. Only Texas and Colorado watched more pitches go by.

 

** Max Kepler’s spring has been slow but Molitor was happy to see the two doubles in his first two at-bats.

 

“He got a little feedback today,” said Molitor. “He smoked the ball, a couple of balls to right field.”

 

** Catcher Mitch Garver -- Twins Daily’s 11th ranked prospect -- put on an impressive display during batting practice prior to Saturday’s game. The right-handed hitter deposited multiple balls onto Hammond Stadium’s berm in left field. In the sixth inning, he smacked a hard grounder which hit the third base bag giving him an easy double and later walked and scored on Drew Stubbs’ double in the eighth.

 

In over 500 at-bats in 2015, Garver hit just four home runs. Last season he hit 12 home runs split between Chattanooga and Rochester. It was with the Lookouts that Garver was able to turn on the power.

 

“Working with Doug Mientkiewicz last summer really did me well,” said Garver. “He and I clicked instantly and we worked together on the same page all season. He gave me a few tips and some pointers. He was really trusting and patient guy, so he understands what it takes to improve your numbers in the minors.”

 

Garver has been praised for his offensive side of the game but one Twins official said the organization was very happy with the work Garver had put into his defensive side. According to their Trackman data, Garver made noticeable improvements in his receiving game after working with new first base coach Jeff Smith.

 

** Ryan Pressly finished off the game in the ninth, using a mix of fastball, slider and big curve. While the radar gun at Hammond showed him sitting 94 and 95, when he was in a 3-2 count to the Blue Jays’ Reese McGuire, Pressly reached back and blew a 97 mile per hour fastball past the swinging Jay.

 

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[nytwinsfan]

Watched the game today and must say Garver looks solid on both sides of the ball. He looks like a future average starting catcher, which these days is a valuable asset indeed. Looking forward to a Garver/Castro platoon, even if it likely won't happen until mid-season. Imagine having both a RH and a LH catcher on your 25-man who can each play average (for the position) or better on both sides of the ball. What a privilege that will be after the last 4-5 years.

[dgwills]

After last year (with how Meyer, Chargois, and other young players were handled) I just don't have any respect for Paul Molitor's opinions. As such, when he is quoted on his evaluation of player performance it kind of irks me.

It's going to be a long season for me.

[jud6312]

“Working with Doug Mientkiewicz last summer really did me well,”

 

Seems to be a pretty common theme. Better to keep him with the young kids or with the slightly older kids as a hitting/bench coach/manager in waiting?

[D.C Twins]

Fear not....Molitor will not last past this year. Ownership does not want to pay two salaries. The new FO does not want to make a long term decision on a manager until they have a better idea of the future make up of the team.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

After last year (with how Meyer, Chargois, and other young players were handled) I just don't have any respect for Paul Molitor's opinions. As such, when he is quoted on his evaluation of player performance it kind of irks me.

It's going to be a long season for me.

 

I like Garver a lot, and think he could be one of those late bloomers you hear people talk about. His minor league OPS is .766 for his career, which is pretty decent for a catcher, but his worst season came in a hitter suppressing league in the FSL(his HR total in particular took a hit) , popping an .820 OPS last season. He's got a good eye and modest power (10-20 HRs and 20-30 doubles).  Given his defense is average to slightly above at this point, that's a fantastic piece. I don't think he starts in MLB, but I have to think that by June/July he's getting an opportunity, and hopefully he runs with it.

[HitInAPinch]

 

“Working with Doug Mientkiewicz last summer really did me well,”

 

Seems to be a pretty common theme. Better to keep him with the young kids or with the slightly older kids as a hitting/bench coach/manager in waiting?

MiLB seems to be the best spot.  Get the players early in their development.

[HitInAPinch]

 

 

I like Garver a lot, and think he could be one of those late bloomers you hear people talk about. His minor league OPS is .766 for his career, which is pretty decent for a catcher, but his worst season came in a hitter suppressing league in the FSL(his HR total in particular took a hit) , popping an .820 OPS last season. He's got a good eye and modest power (10-20 HRs and 20-30 doubles).  Given his defense is average to slightly above at this point, that's a fantastic piece. I don't think he starts in MLB, but I have to think that by June/July he's getting an opportunity, and hopefully he runs with it.

Curious, who do you see as the backup catcher when the season starts?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Curious, who do you see as the backup catcher when the season starts?

 

JRM

[Parker Hageman]

 

JRM

 

At this point, it is Chris Gimenez. 

[Vanimal46]

Wow... And the average age on this team is creepin' on up.