Report from the Fort: Twins First Spring Training Game Ends with an 8-4 Victory over the Rays

[John Bonnes]

FORT MYERS - Kenta's back!

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins faced an early split-squad set of games on Saturday afternoon to kick off the start of their 2023 Grapefruit League season. In the home game, Kenta Maeda returned to the mound after missing the 2022 season following Tommy John surgery and pitched a scoreless first inning.

Lineup
The Twins only had two anticipated regular position players in their home lineup: Joey Gallo led off and Max Kepler batted cleanup. However, they also had three other players practically guaranteed (health permitting, knock on wood) to make the 26-man roster: Ryan Jeffers at catcher, Kyle Farmer at shortstop and Michael A Taylor patrolled center field.

The lineup also included Twins’ top prospects Edouard Julien (Twins Daily’s #5 prospect) and Brooks Lee (Twins Daily’s #1 prospect), who joined the lineup late when catcher Christian Vazquez was pulled from the lineup due to illness.

Maeda’s Return
But the most anticipated Twins player was Maeda. Twins fans had hoped to see him last September, perhaps in a relief role. But as team injuries and the season jointly spun out of control, all parties decided to wait until this spring for his return.

Maeda was greeted rudely by Rays outfield prospect Josh Lowe with a double into the gap that went off of Joey Gallo’s glove. The good news? It was on a 90.8 mph fastball by Maeda showing velocity already near to what he threw pre-surgery. Lowe was slo unable to advance from second base, as Maeda escaped the inning on two ground balls and a strikeout, throwing 13 pitches, ten for strikes. That was the end of his day, as planned.

"He was happy with his stuff", Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game. "I was happy with his stuff. [Twins pitching coach] Pete [Maki] was happy with his stuff. So a very successful day and one we've been waiting a very long time for,"

The Shift Ban
Both regulars in the lineup for the Twins, Gallo and Kepler, could be positively impacted by MLB’s limitation of “the shift” this year. In the first inning, we got a taste of what we might see. It’s not totally clear the results would have been any different, but both plays likely were completed differently than they would have been.

The new limitation has two parts that could affect left-handed hitters. First, the shortstop can no longer play on the other side (the first base side) of second base. Second, second baseman can no longer play in short right field. He must remain on the infield dirt.

For left-handed pull-hitters, the theory is this could mean more ground balls scooting through the right side of the infield for hits. Alas, that was not the case for Kepler, whose ground ball was fielded by the second baseman to the right of the bag and neatly flipped to the shortstop for a double-play to end the inning. It likely would have been fielded by the shortstop last year, but the double play might not have been as automatic.

On the other hand, Gallo hit a soft line drive to right field over the first baseman’s head for a single. It’s not clear if that result would have been any different had the second baseman been deeper and on the grass – he would have had to range far to his left to get there – but it’s possible. It certainly seem like it would have been fielded by him instead of by the right-fielder.

The next inning, we saw another impact of the new rule. Rays second baseman Vidal Brujan lined up too far over to the left side of the infield. It was called by the umpire, and as a result, the batter – Farmer – was awarded a ball. But with the umpires, players and coaches still working out the communication of the call, it was originally thought that a balk had been called, which would have scored Gallo from third base. After a discussion at home plate with the umpire, he returned to third base and was driven home on a sacrifice fly.

Facing Southpaws
We also got a taste of what we might see when the Twins face left-handed pitching this year. With the exception of Nick Gordon, the Twins entire “bench” is right-handed, and it sounds like Rocco intends to play matchups with them frequently, including in the starting lineup.

It certainly worked on Saturday. The bottom of the lineup featured two non-roster invitees signed as minor league free agents. Switch-hitter Willi Castro is a 25-year-old infielder from the Tigers organization who started at third base. Tyler White, a 32-year-old, who has spent the last couple years in Triple-A, started at first base.

But they looked like All-stars against Rays left-handed reliever Josh Fleming. Castro tripled to deep center and White homered. It blew the game open soon after it started, contributing to a 6-0 lead after just two innings.

The Other Game
Meanwhile, the Twins had another game going on in Sarasota vs the Orioles, with Louie Varland starting. Varland, Twins Daily's #9 prospect, threw two scoreless innings, but things turned sour in the second half of the game and the Twins fell 10-5. Mark Contreras and prospect Kala'i Rosario each homered for the Twins. Nick Gordon started the game with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Austin Martin. It was interesting to note that the Twins had Gordon start at shortstop with Martin at second base. Martin (Twins Daily's #10 prospect) was hit by a pitch in his next plate appearance, but he must have been OK because he stole second base on the next pitch. Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner (Twins Daily's #11 prospect) went a combined 0-for-5 with a walk and five strikeouts. Aaron Sabato walked three times, and one of the newest Twins prospects, Jose Salas (Twins Daily's #8 prospect) walked twice. Randy Dobnak gave up one run despite two hits and two walks in his two innings of work. 

For the Orioles, Terrin Vavra - the youngest son of former Twins hitting coach and bench coach Joe Vavra - went 2-for-3 with a ground-rule double and a long home run. Curtis Terry, who spent last spring with the Twins, hit a three-run homer off of Brock Stewart. One of Baltimore's top prospects, Heston Kjerstad hit two home runs. Chris Vallimont gave up one run over two innings. Sauk Rapids native Anthony Bemboom started behind the plate for the O's and went 0-for-2. 

Next Up
The team makes a long trek up to Clearwater to play the Phillies on Sunday. Joe Ryan will be starting for the Twins. The plan is for Jose Miranda to make the trip and hit third as the designated hitter. Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee should be in the lineup again, too.

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[rwilfong86]

I forgot about the Willi Castro signing, another Puerto Rican in the system. All together I think it was a good win to start things out.

[Squirrel]

53 minutes ago, John Bonnes said:

The next inning, we saw another impact of the new rule. Rays second baseman Vidal Brujan lined up too far over to the left side of the infield. It was called by the umpire, and as a result, the batter – Farmer – was awarded a ball. But with the umpires, players and coaches still working out the communication of the call, it was originally thought that a balk had been called, which would have scored Gallo from third base. After a discussion at home plate with the umpire, he returned to third base and was driven home on a sacrifice fly.

Ah! That’s what happened … without an announcer to say what was happening, it was a bit confusing

[sun]

That;s great news about Kenta. He Maeda my day!

[Doctor Gast]

Great to see Maeda have a decent game. Gordon's bat came alive for a triple. Although I was surprised to see Gordon at SS later I realized that Gordon is probably our 3rd SS before Lewis comes back. IF something happens to Correa & Farmer we're hurting. I'd also like to see how Farmer responds at catcher. If Vasquez gets laid up we could be in a big mess.

It was good to see our prospect out on the field. As much I enjoyed Martin on the field, I was hoping he'd be used primarily in the OF to learn the MLB ropes, We have plenty of back up at 2B and Martins future is in the OF not 2B. Just as well start & keep him there as a RH bat for next year.

[Squirrel]

14 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Great to see Maeda have a decent game. Gordon's bat came alive for a triple. Although I was surprised to see Gordon at SS later I realized that Gordon is probably our 3rd SS before Lewis comes back. IF something happens to Correa & Farmer we're hurting. I'd also like to see how Farmer responds at catcher. If Vasquez gets laid up we could be in a big mess.

It was good to see our prospect out on the field. As much I enjoyed Martin on the field, I was hoping he'd be used primarily in the OF to learn the MLB ropes, We have plenty of back up at 2B and Martins future is in the OF not 2B. Just as well start & keep him there as a RH bat for next year.

Gordon was playing at a different game. It was a split squad day. Correa was not scheduled to play in either. Farmer started at SS at the game in Fort Myers. I think our depth is fine.

[Whitey333]

Only the first preseason game but looks good.  I noticed much was made of Kenta Maeda and rightfully so.  The Twins had a 6-0 lead so someone and or others in relief must not have done too well...was it Cole Sands?  It's only one game but was curious.

[terrydactyls]

7 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Only the first preseason game but looks good.  I noticed much was made of Kenta Maeda and rightfully so.  The Twins had a 6-0 lead so someone and or others in relief must not have done too well...was it Cole Sands?  It's only one game but was curious.

Alcala and Sands each worked one inning and allowed two earned runs.

[jmlease1]

Getting HBP is a significant part of Martin's game. He's our version of Don Baylor!

[Otaknam]

Is that legal for a Twins player, like Martin, to steal a base? Rocco must have been at the other game site. 

[Squirrel]

34 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Alcala and Sands each worked one inning and allowed two earned runs.

I’ll add that both pitchers had minor leaguers behind them and especially with Sands, there were some costly misplays in the outfield. But I honestly do not take this as anything. And Alcala missed a lot of time last year so is likely finding a groove again 

[Squirrel]

4 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

Is that legal for a Twins player, like Martin, to steal a base? Rocco must have been at the other game site. 

The Rocco comment gets an eyeroll from me, but I get that he’s the scapegoat for everything like not stealing is his philosophy or something.

I think you’ll see more base stealing this year in MLB as a whole because of the larger bases. It’s one of the reasons (I think) the Twins signed Vázquez and I think why Molitor is in camp to work on that and why there is more speed on the team.

[jorgenswest]

47 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Only the first preseason game but looks good.  I noticed much was made of Kenta Maeda and rightfully so.  The Twins had a 6-0 lead so someone and or others in relief must not have done too well...was it Cole Sands?  It's only one game but was curious.

I listened to the game so others who saw it might comment differently but Alacala’s inning started with a ground ball to Miller that he stumbled getting to. It was ruled an infield hit. He followed with a walk and then ground ball out and another ground out. If Miller doesn’t stumble on the first ball it could have been 0 earned runs and our perception might be different though his pitching was identical for those 4 batters. My recollection is that the defense behind Sands was shaky in the outfield.

[Squirrel]

6 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I listened to the game so others who saw it might comment differently but Alacala’s inning started with a ground ball to Miller that he stumbled getting to. It was ruled an infield hit. He followed with a walk and then ground ball out and another ground out. If Miller doesn’t stumble on the first ball it could have been 0 earned runs and our perception might be different though his pitching was identical for those 4 batters. My recollection is that the defense behind Sands was shaky in the outfield.

I was there, and yes it was.

[puckstopper1]

I saw the box score and say that a Twins pitcher named "Stewart" got knocked around and I had a flashback to mega draft bust Kohl Stewart.  Ruined months of therapy...

[jimbo92107]

Cautious optimism. If Kenta Maeda's arm is truly healed, then the Twinks have a solid starter in their rotation. Now let's see the rest of them...