Article: Spring Training Report: March 7

[Nick Nelson]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1438-Spring-Training-Report-March-7

[Seth Stohs]

Fun read... Good to hear Niko is getting bigger and stronger. I don't expect a lot of power, but hopefully he can add some doubles, triples. Have heard rumblings that he could move over to 3B some this year, though, he's such a good athlete, could play anywhere.

 

Good to hear about Kepler's speed. No question, he's got the ability to play CF. He did it last year at Elizabethton, well, until Buxton got there. he's a terrific athlete.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Thanks for the report--I am so jealous--note to self: get down to spring training one of these years...

[JB_Iowa]

Thanks for the update, Nick. Disappointing to miss Hicks' big day but the way he's been hitting, maybe he'll put on a show for you tonight.

[Mike Sixel]

Great update, thanks Nick.

[Squirrel]

All so great ... am getting antsy for my trip down. Unfortunately only for a week this year. Love this line ... "Quite the "past and future" dynamic in play there." Sums up one of the reasons I love Spring Training as much as I do. All the memories and hope all in one.

[ThePuck]

I get to hit up ST next year. It'll be the first time my brother and I have gone. Unfortunately, it won't be in Florida. We'll be going down to Arizona where his Angels and Dodgers play. Either way, it's baseball and it should be a blast!

[lightfoot789]

Hey Nick:

 

"Sano's prodigious frame paled in comparison to fellow bopper Kennys Vargas, who is an inch or two taller and has a sizable weight advantage on the Twins' top prospect"

What are the sizes of Sano and Vargas - Height and Weight (estimate)?

Are they still the biggest position players in camp or have others caught up?

For example: How big are Kepler; DJ Hicks; Adam Walker; & Rory Rhodes since last year?

[goliath]

I've seen the last two games in person, as well. On Wednesday, the Puerto Rico game was very enjoyable because of the PR fans chanting and dancing. Danny Santana has an impressive arm. Worley looked much better and his velocity increased as the game progressed. Berrios was the best pitcher of the day, either team. Joe Benson, also has a good arm, but looked really out of sync at the plate, and the missed played fly ball didn't help his cause. Brandon Boggs and Jeff Clement are getting long looks, both playing full games both days with so-so results. BJ Hermsen needs more velocity on his fastball to have a chance. Mays threw pretty hard, but he and Slama both had control issues. I'm pulling for Escobar, and he looked good at the plate on Thursday, making solid contact on his 3 hits. Overall, like last season, the pitching and fielding have been atrocious.

[Seth Stohs]

lightfoot - People have said that Sano is 6-4 and 240... sounds about right... he doesn't have much body fat at all. Vargas is probably 6-6 and was at 272 in Instructs last fall (according to Baseball America). But he played in Puerto Rico and both have been in Ft. Myers since mid-January, so I can't speak to either with certainty.

[Mike Sixel]

272? That is pretty big for a baseball player.....how big was Frank Thomas, or other really big players/

[Nick Nelson]

Are they still the biggest position players in camp or have others caught up?

For example: How big are Kepler; DJ Hicks; Adam Walker; & Rory Rhodes since last year?

Rhodes was noticeably huge. Walker and Kepler are big boys; don't remember seeing Hicks. One guy whose size really wowed me was first baseman Michael Gonzalez. He was taller even than Vargas.

[Halsey Hall]

I wouldn't call Kepler a big boy. He's not thick like Sano and Vargas. He's tall is about it. Hicks is much the same build as Max. There's certainly alot of guys down here with large arms! An arm wrestling tourney would be a site to behold.

 

So the pitchers worked and worked and worked on the pickoff play to 2nd today. And my buddy who was at the game the other days says, all the work, and Hermsen throws it out into centerfield. And they will continue to work on that all year. That was on the half field.

 

So after that, the pitchers go to field 2 and are joined by the position players. Now the pitchers throw back to 2nd with a runner on base and off the bag, and they work the rundown. The coaches had to tell Buxton to take it easy, he was really making them work to get him. So he tamed it down. But what I didn't get was that they always made the putout at 3rd. Not the way I was taught it. One of the last runners had the ball hit him on top of the helmet, and it rolled out into the road. I asked one of the coaches about it after and he said all they were doing is trying to get the runner out, an out is an out. Seems to me that out would be better tried while running the runner back to 2nd. Seemed strange.