Twins 5, Rays 4: Progress vs Success

Progress is that which Twins officials have been wishing for their big international free agent since they signed him: not Success but Progress. They have reliably assured fans that adjustments would need to be made before Park successfully transitioned from Korean baseball to MLB, and those adjustments might not happen quickly; maybe not in spring training. Their scouting of his swing was not that it was Ready For The Show; it was that it was conducive for The Show. It has the raw material that an MLB player needs.

Neither the strikeout five days ago nor the grand slam proves anything in that regard, of course. But it’s nice to see an upward trajectory. Indeed, that is the one thing upon which the Twins have been counting.

Speaking Of Upward Trajectory

The other play that stood out today in the Twins 5-4 road win over the Rays was defensive. In the eighth inning, Rays minor league outfield Johnny Field launched a long drive to the gap in right center field. It looked like it might be a home run, but the Twins right fielder ranged deep into the gap, caught the ball up against the wall, came down, spun around and threw back into the infield to eventually double off the runner at first base.

It took me a moment to process this. Once I confirmed that I last had Oswaldo Arcia in right field – it took me another moment to process it. I eventually waited until he and the center fielder (Joe Benson) jogged in together to believe it was truly Arcia. And even that isn’t true. It wasn’t until people applauded Arcia that I convinced myself I hadn’t gotten he and Benson mixed up. (And even then I waited to see if someone else would tweet it first.)

What my mind couldn’t grasp was the Arcia would have the range for that catch. Last week, Ryan talked a little about Arcia and what he had seen from him so far in camp. “He spent the entire winter down in our camp,” said Ryan. “He’s in good shape.” He certainly looked it today.

Ultimately, Arcia’s shape and his glove aren’t going to determine his future. It’s going to be his bat, and that still hasn’t shown much this spring training – he struck out twice today, once against each handed pitcher. But as Ryan reminded us all “He’s got talent.”

Mixing It Up

Kyle Gibson threw two innings, and looked like he was willing to throw all of his variants in his first outing. Toward the end of his stint, when he fell behind 3-0, he went with fastballs to even the count but went back to an offspeed pitch (I think his change-up) to get a ground out. He finished the outing with a strikeout looking on another offspeed pitch.

It’s Spring Training For Everyone

Today’s reminder that It’s Spring Training For Everyone goes to, well, everyone involved with the first run the Twins gave up. It started with an error by Eduardo Escobar to get the lead runner on base. The runner advanced on a wild pitch that was mostly catcher John Ryan Murphy’s fault. The runner advanced to third base on a stolen base that was pitcher Glen Perkins fault; he simply didn’t check the runner at all. And finally the run came home on a sacrifice fly.

Stuff I Don’t Get

Michael Tonkin pitched the sixth inning today. His first two pitches were 95 mph fastballs - and both were hit hard but ended up being long fly balls. He struck out his final batter on seven pitches. He’ll likely make the team if for no other reason than he has no options left, but it’s hard to see how a reliever with a 95+ mph fastball (his first warm-up pitch was 97) hasn’t already made the team. But of his nine pitches today, six were that fastball and none of them got a swing and a miss.

Lightning Lineup Notes

• Byung-Ho Park started at first base today, the first time he has been in the field.
  
• Carlos Quentin played in right field for the first time this spring. He had been at first base or DH. Arcia also played right field for the first time this spring. It was also the first time he has played but hasn’t started.
  
• Danny Santana got his first start of the spring in center field.