Wednesday Twins Notes (Meyer, Kepler, Bernier, Beresford, Sano, Vargas)

MAX KEPLER

While fans were talking about Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario during the Arizona Fall League, Max Kepler had arguably the most productive statistical showing among the Twins prospects.

He said that he felt good throughout that seven-week season, but that the experience was terrific. “We had a really good team. Obviously we won a lot of games and the AFL championship, but it was just a great group of guys. There wasn’t one guy who didn’t fit in. And, we won a lot of games.

Kepler spent much of the offseason back home in Germany. However, he returned to the States and stayed with his sister in Tampa.

He said he feels much more comfortable this year in spring training than he did a year ago. He played mostly in the outfield in 2014. This spring, he has started games in right field and at first base. He said he is comfortable both places.

Kepler is hoping – maybe assuming – that he will begin the 2015 season in Chattanooga. He was mostly healthy in 2014, though he missed almost two weeks during the season with strep throat. However, at 6-4 and 230 pounds, the 22-year-old has a chance to hit for a lot of power.

ALEX MEYER

“It’s been probably the toughest five weeks of my life.”

That’s how Alex Meyer described his current situation. First, the dog shared by Meyer and his fiancé died unexpectedly.

Just after spring training started, he learned that his grandpa passed away. “It’s been real hard. We were very close, but I guess it’s a part of life. Not the good part, but just have to move on.”

Meyer made his spring debut and really struggled with his control. “It was surprising because I had thrown live batting practice at practice and my control was pinpoint, which was surprising to me too.”

It’s important not to make much out of a first outing in spring training. That’s where adjustments start to happen.

Meyer is excited to be a part of the 2015 Minnesota Twins. He believes that Ricky Nolasco will be really good this year, and Mike Pelfrey can bounce back and be solid. He is excited to be on the same team as Ervin Santana because “his stuff is nasty.”

He knows a lot of people are down on the Twins in 2015. “I see when places like ESPN say that we’ll be the worst team in the American League, but I look around this room and see this collection of talent. Every year there are teams that no one expects to win many games and then they surprise people. I don’t see why we can’t do that this year.”

JAMES BERESFORD

Infielder James Beresford decided not to play in the Australia Baseball League the last two winters. He acknowledges that there is good and bad with that decision.

“If I played all offseason in Australia, I would be much more game-ready in the field and at the plate at the beginning of spring training. However, by not playing throughout the winter, and working out and getting stronger, I feel much better, much more prepared later in the season.”

In 2015, he had 556 plate appearances in Rochester. And speaking of strength, Beresford doubled his career total home runs. He hit .276 with two homers.

One thing that Beresford is happy about is that he didn’t fight jet lag as much when he arrived in Ft. Myers almost a month ago. “The key is, no matter how tired you are, to stay awake during the day as long as you can. If you come here and sleep all day for a couple of days, it’s just going to take longer.”

Beresford is a strong defensive infielder. Although he has primarily played second base the last few seasons, he can play all three infield positions well. There may not be an opening for a utility infielder on opening day, but if Beresford is strong in June or July and there is a need, he plans to be ready.

His parents are planning a trip to the United States to watch their son play this summer. All parties are hoping that they will need to make plans to come to Minneapolis, even if it means altering their route. They’ll happily pay the flight change price. Beresford added, “I’ll happily pick up that cost!”

DOUG BERNIER

Last September, I had to take a business trip to San Francisco for work. In a Minneapolis airport bookstore, I found a book by John Fienstein entitled “Where Nobody Knows Your Name.” In John Feinstein’s book, he tells many stories about players (and coaches and even umpires) who took a long time to get to the big leagues or maybe even had to work their way back after getting to the big leagues earlier in their career.

I read about 100 pages on the plane in September. So, when I flew on Sunday to Ft. Myers, I started again at about page 110. After just a couple of chapters, suddenly there it was. There is an entire chapter on Doug Bernier. As you recall, Bernier had a three-day stint in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies in 2008. He got in as a defensive replacement one game, and knowing Troy Tulowitzki was coming back the next day, he got a start. In all, he went 0-4.

The chapter talks about his time with the Yankees AAA team in 2009 and 2011 (he was with the Pirates system in 2010). He played in big league spring training with some of the greats like Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano. In fact, one spring Jeter was hurt and Bernier had the chance to play a lot of shortstop.

I asked Bernier about that book this morning. He said that he had talked with Feinstein before, and one day he called him up. “He basically explained the premise of the book, and I thought it was a great idea. We made a road trip together and talked about all of that information.”

Has he read the book? “Yeah. I read it. I read my chapter. I think I’ve read the whole book. What I typically will do is pick up the book and pick a random chapter here and there and read it. I really enjoy the stories.

Bernier returned to the big leagues in 2013 with the Twins. He was with the Twins throughout the second half of the season. He was also called up to the Twins last September. The 34-year-old is back in spring training hoping for another opportunity in 2015.

QUICK NOTES

• Spent a little time talking to Trevor Plouffe. He said that he had a pretty regular offseason other than the first month or so doing some rehab. His wife, Olivia, is five months pregnant with the couple’s first child, a son. You can definitely see in his face that he is really excited about it, understandably!
  
• AJ Achter is expecting Michigan State to get an 8 or 9 seed, which can be a pretty scary seed. The Spartans are not used to that kind of seeding in an NCAA tournament. “I guess it says something about the program that we’re disappointed in an 8 or 9 seed.” As a Minnesotan, I think Gophers fans would be excited if their team got an 8 or 9 seed in the NIT.
  
• Mitch Garver said he expects to get “another five or six days” in big league camp, but he has enjoyed the experience and learned a lot.
  
• I talked to Aaron Hicks a little bit. I didn’t ask him about the base running blunder in Tuesday’s game (he forgot the number of outs and was pulled from the game). He knew it was a mistake, and he will learn from it.
  
• Before the game, there was a large crowd of Twins fans gathered around the field adjacent to Hammond Stadium. They were getting a show as Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas were hitting blasts well beyond the outfield fences. They each spent a lot of time on fielding as well.
  

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