Monday Camp Notes: Roster Battle Royale

* Quentin and Sweeney are facing an uphill battle given that they are non-roster invites going against homegrown players who are out of options, but both have been productive enough this spring to spark some intrigue.

Today, however, was not a banner day for either. The only hit between the two was a Sweeney single that was generously scored as such when Pittsburgh second baseman Cole Figueroa took a wrong first step on a flare and couldn’t recover.

Quentin, in particular, had a rough one. He batted cleanup and struck out in both of his first two at-bats, each time with a runner on third and fewer than two outs. He finished 0-for-3 but Paul Molitor viewed it as more of an isolated bad day than a general sign of weakness for the veteran hitter.

“He’s been pretty good at shortening his swing with two strikes in camp, today it didn’t work out particularly well.”

* Two-strike approach is an area where the manager drew a distinction between Quentin and Oswaldo Arcia, who might be in direct competition for the final bench job.

On a quiet day for Quentin, Arcia did little to distinguish himself at the plate, finishing 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and failing to cash in on a pair of early scoring opportunities.

“He gets a little long with his swing,” Molitor said. “People have a tendency to get him to climb the ladder, especially with two strikes.”

I’d say Arcia has a clear leg up, since the Twins recognize that losing him on waivers would be unfortunate, but I wouldn’t look at this one as a lock just yet. Having a veteran on the bench who can come in and take a quality at-bat is something that the Twins have valued in the past, and while Arcia has shown a somewhat improved approach at the plate this spring, it hasn’t led to much in the way of results. Today’s 0-fer dropped his average to .179.

* Danny Santana, meanwhile, had himself a nice ballgame. He collected a couple of hits, including a single that he flicked through the wide-open left side when the Pirates shifted him.

Given his lack of remaining options and his ability to play both infield and outfield, it’s tough to see Santana being left off the roster. His versatility, combined with his speed and switch-hitting, make him a nice bench piece.

“Danny can spray the ball," Molitor said after the game. “He stayed on the ball better today I thought."

* Starting pitcher Kyle Gibson was on top of his game. His 10-to-0 grounder-to-fly ratio is exactly what you like to see from a sinkerballer, and in the second inning he shattered the bat of former Twins farmhand Danny Ortiz with a pitch in on the handle.

As usual, Gibson lamented his walks after the outing (he had two), but he generally seemed pleased with where he’s at.

“The pitches I’ve been working on are where I want them to be, and they’re getting better,” he said.

* Taylor Rogers was first to come on in relief for Twins after Gibson was removed in the fifth. Rogers is involved in one of the other remaining position battles on the roster: the left-handed relief gig.

Fernando Abad is considered the front-runner in that race. The 30-year-old veteran has a sizable experience edge over Rogers and others, but he historically lacks the platoon splits that might come in handy for a situational bullpen role.

I asked Molitor on Sunday if that weighs into his decision.

“I’m kinda looking for guys who are pitching the best,” he replied. “The season [Abad] had in 2014 it seemed like he dominated lefties and righties fairly well. Last year was a little bit of a step back.”

“He’s not afraid to throw that changeup to lefties and he can throw that curveball over, which is a good pitch to have. I am aware of the history and the numbers, but I’m just looking for the guys who are throwing the best and give us the best chance."

* Glen Perkins fired a scoreless sixth frame with a pair of strikeouts. He has now worked six innings this spring with three hits allowed, a 6-to-0 K/BB ratio and a 0.00 ERA.

Sure, it’s spring training and the numbers are ultimately meaningless. But it’s still nice to see after the way he finished last year.

* Eduardo Escobar went 1-for-2 with a hustle triple, his second three-bagger of the spring. He also made a couple of slick plays defensively at short.

Before the game, Brian Dozier called his double play partner “one of the most underrated players in the game,” and it’s hard to disagree with his assessment, given how many Twins fans I saw beckoning the team to explore options at shortstop this past offseason.

"You put his stats up, anything regarding defense, offense, everything, it’s up there with the elite shortstops in the league,” Dozier said. "He’s going to have a chance to play every single day this year. You’ll see his numbers get even better."

* David Freese was batting third in the Pirates lineup. I mention him because his situation over the winter was reflective of a lukewarm (at best) third base market that might have contributed to the Twins not trading Trevor Plouffe.

Freese was far and away the best third baseman in free agency, and really the only quality starting option, yet he went unsigned until 10 days ago when Pittsburgh acquired him on a meager one-year, $3 million deal.

The lack of a market for Freese, and the underwhelming return that the Reds got for dealing Al-Star Todd Frazier to the White Sox, suggest that Ryan made the right choice by holding onto Plouffe.

Whether or not it was prudent to send Miguel Sano to right field to make all of the pieces fit is another discussion.

* On Sunday I mentioned that Ryan had expressed an inclination to keep Alex Meyer in the rotation at Class-AAA Rochester rather than relegating him to a bullpen role.

Today, the general manager made it official that they’ll go with Meyer as a starter for now, with the caveat that it’s not necessarily an assignment that will stick for his career of even for the entirety of the 2016 season.

Ryan specifically pointed out that working as a starter enables the big righty to utilize and refine the entirety of his pitch repertoire (particularly his so-so change), which is much more easily done from the rotation than the bullpen. But you also have to think that his fantastic 2014 performance as a starter in the International League – which really isn't all that far in the past – factored in.