Twins Video
* Phil Hughes had his best outing of the spring -- an efficient effort that saw him cruise through four frames on only 44 pitches.
Outside of an opposite field homer by Chris Davis that barely sneaked over the wall and inside the foul pole in left, Hughes was almost perfect. He tallied a pair of strikeouts, freezing the opposing hitter with backdoor cutters on both occasions.
* Hughes has been working on adding a changeup to his repertoire this spring, and threw a few during today's game but wasn't all that pleased with them.
"It was terrible," he said. "I threw maybe two that leaked arm-side and maybe another two that bounced in the dirt. It's just about getting repetitions with it and getting more comfortable and seeing if I can add that as a fourth pitch for me that'll be effective."
Of course, Hughes experienced plenty of success last year while rarely using that pitch -- he said he threw only a handful all season -- so if he doesn't gain enough confidence to make it a featured offering it won't be the end of the world.
"It's not like a pitch that I necessarily need to have, but if it can be another weapon for me, that'd be great."
* On Sunday, the Twins took an early lead behind a strong performance from their starter, only to watch that lead deteriorate once handed to the bullpen. That happened again today.
"The game kind of lost its sanity in the middle," Paul Molitor said. "We had trouble getting outs. They were putting up crooked numbers and we were trying different people out there to see how they would respond."
Despite the struggles of Brian Duensing, Mark Hamburger and Michael Tonkin, the Twins were able to hang on and win. Blaine Boyer came in and got the last four outs to seal up a one-run victory.
The 33-year-old Boyer, who came out of retirement and had a solid season with the Padres last year before signing a minor-league deal with the Twins this past January, seems like a longshot to win a spot in the Twins bullpen but he is making an impression.
"I like that he's aggressive, he's not afraid to use his fastball, and he's got enough velocity," Molitor said. "It was good to see him pitch well."
"He's got that veteran presence about him, he doesn't panic," Terry Ryan said of Boyer. "He's got pretty good spin on a ball, he's got pretty good velocity. He's in the mix here."
Boyer averaged 93 MPH with his heavily featured fastball last year in San Diego and he's been right around that number this spring.
* Eddie Rosario got another start today, this time in left field, and once again he made the most of it. He had perhaps the best at-bat of the day for the Twins, falling behind 0-2 against Bud Norris before fouling off several pitches and then hooking a liner that rolled to the wall in right field and motoring around the bases for a triple.
"That was a really good at-bat. He fought off some tough pitches," Molitor said. "I liked that he didn't hesitate around second. The guy ended up bobbling the ball and he was already full stride, so that was good to see. He had good at-bats again today."
Rosario continues to stay relevant in the center field battle, although Aaron Hicks got the start there today and performed well, drawing a pair of walks at the plate and making a tremendous diving grab in the outfield.
* With four home runs today, the Twins ran their Grapefruit League count to 14. That's just two short of last year's spring total.
* I've had a hard time understanding what the Twins see in Eduardo Nunez, who started at DH today. He wasn't very good last year, even by his standards, so I was surprised when the club elected to tender him a contract during the offseason.
I asked Ryan before today's game for his thoughts on Nunez, and the GM rattled off several things he likes about the 27-year-old.
"He's got skills," Ryan said. "He's got surprising power, he can really throw and run, he's got versatility, he's a veteran, he can steal a bag."
Sure enough, Nunez launched a two-run homer over the fence in left-center during the game, demonstrating the "surprising power" that Ryan was referring to. It was one of three hits on the day for the likely utility man.
* Speaking of Nunez, if you're looking for a chuckle, you should check out this piece published today by Ben Lindbergh of Grantland, titled "Baseball's Secret Scandal: The Player Who Hits Popups on Purpose."
The tongue-in-cheek article focuses on Nunez's historical penchant for chasing high pitches and hitting infield fly balls. It's lengthy (like everything at Grantland) but entertaining and illuminating, and worth the read if you've got time.
For what it's worth, none of Nunez's three hits today came on infield flies.
MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
— Latest Twins coverage from our writers
— Recent Twins discussion in our forums
— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email
— Become a Twins Daily Caretaker
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.