Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Friday, March 10, 2017

 Prospect Bengie Gonzalez's bat impressing Twins so far. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1  Twins Ervin Santana emerges satisfied from start against Colombia. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 2  Hartman: Dozier stays put; now Twins must rebound from worst season. Star Tribune (Hartman) p. 3  Andrew Miller believes ex-teammate Craig Breslow is ‘on to something’. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 4  Twins’ Danny Santana playing through grief. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5  Sticking with Twins, Ervin sees Classic foe anyway. MLB (Bollinger) p. 7  Murphy turns page on trying year, on and off field. MLB (Bollinger) p. 7  Young Berrios a Classic vet for Puerto Rico. MLB (Harding) p. 8  Kirilloff set for rehab after Tommy John surgery. MLB (Bollinger) p. 9  Buxton to ESPN’s Olney: ‘I’ve got a great chance of catching anything out there’. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 9  Twins beat Colombia 10-7 in spring training. FOX Sports p. 9  Cabrera, Altuve hope for best Venezuelan showing yet in WBC. FOX Sports p. 10  : Phil Hughes Changing Approach? FOX Sports (Haswell) p. 11  Twins Were Willing To Offer Napoli More Than Rangers. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 12  For An Ailing Rotation, Twins Have An Anchor In Santana. CBS Minnesota p. 12

Prospect Bengie Gonzalez's bat impressing Twins so far Phil Miller | Star Tribune | March 10, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Bengie Gonzalez wants to reach the major leagues so bad, he’ll do anything his manager asks, and he’s not kidding.

Go by Bengie instead of Benjamin? Sure. OK if we misspell it as Benji? Uh, fine. Move you around to three different infield positions, and even an occasional stint in the outfield? No problem.

Gonzalez even smiled, nodded and went right to work when a manager in the Pirates system came up with a not-so-simple recommendation for improving his game. “They said, you should try switch-hitting,” Gonzalez said of that startling suggestion, shortly after he was drafted in the seventh round in 2008. “I had only hit righthanded my whole life, but they told me if I could hit lefthanded, maybe I could use my bunt more and use my speed. They said, ‘You can handle the bat, you can do it,’ so I went for it. But it took me like five years to figure it out.”

Those are important years for a teenager hoping to make the majors, and Gonzalez admits it set him back at the beginning of his career, probably slowed his climb through the minors. By 2012, he was comfortable enough to switch-hit full time, but the Pirates grew impatient with his overall hitting progress.

Gonzalez, though, insists he has no regrets. He’s 27 now, but he’s a better hitter as a lefthander, he said, having hit .289 against righthanders last year. “I like it now. I love it. I feel great lefthanded,” he said. “I like lefty better, because I see so many righties, and I have good at-bats against them.”

The Puerto Rican infielder has had plenty of quality at-bats this spring. Gonzalez’s eight hits are the most by any Twin, and his .571 average (8- for-14) is also the team’s best. And Thursday’s 10-7 victory over Team Colombia was his best game yet.

With the score tied 2-2 in the sixth inning, Gonzalez drew a walk, stole second base, and scored the tie-breaking run on Eduardo Escobar’s triple. In the seventh, with the score tied again, 4-4, Gonzalez executed the hit-and-run perfectly, singling to the vacated hole at second base to drive home the go-ahead run. And in the eighth, Gonzalez crushed a 3-1 fastball and drove it onto the berm in left field, a two-run shot that was his first of the spring.

“It was great. I’m seeing the ball well, I’m waiting for good pitches and not swinging at the pitch that he wants me to swing at,” Gonzalez said. “I was not thinking of hitting a bomb or anything. I was just trying to let the ball get deep and hit it hard up the middle. And he put the fastball middle-in.”

Gonzalez even punctuated his big day by ending the game with a slick defensive play, going into foul territory to field a hard grounder and still get the out at first base.

He keeps that up, he might find himself in Target Field someday.

“He’s done really well. He’s been a pleasant surprise,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He’s shown the capacity to move around the infield, and he runs a little bit better than average.”

Gonzalez signed with the Twins last winter, choosing Minnesota’s minor league contract over Colorado’s, after a strong 2016 at Class AA Jackson in the Mariners system. But as well as he played last year, he was disappointed.

The Mariners told him in the spring that he would be the first call-up if they needed an infielder, so when shortstop Ketel Marte sprained an ankle in July, “my heart was pumping. ‘I’m going to the bigs,’ ” Gonzalez said. “All of a sudden, they picked up a guy [Mike Freeman] from the D- Backs. That frustrated me a lot. That’s why I didn’t go back to Seattle.”

Twins pitcher Ervin Santana emerges satisfied from start against Colombia Phil Miller | Star Tribune | March 10, 2017

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Ervin Santana had not given up a run all spring. He hadn’t allowed a spring-training home run in nearly two years.

Santana did both on Thursday against Team Colombia. Yet he (and his manager) could hardly be more pleased with his performance.

The Twins’ Opening Day starter allowed a pair of runs in four innings but also struck out three, got six outs on ground balls and needed only 52 pitches to fulfill his four-inning target, as the Twins beat Colombia’s WBC team 10-7 at Hammond Stadium.

“The efficiency is there. He had a good day,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said after the team won its sixth straight exhibition game, and second in a row against a World Baseball Classic-bound national team. “He was getting a lot of choppers down the third-base line, which means he got a lot of movement. … He does make it look easy, the way he goes about it.”

It wasn’t so easy for some of the other Twins , though closer Brandon Kintzler and lefthander each pitched a scoreless inning. Bullpen candidates Nick Tepesch, Michael Tonkin and Ryan O’Rourke all surrendered run as the teams combined for 17 runs and 24 hits.

Santana’s only hiccups came on an RBI single by Yankees infielder and a solo home run by Phillies catching prospect .

“It was the right pitch, a fastball away,” Santana said of the home run ball, the first he has allowed in spring training since March 18, 2015, a span of 36 innings. “He just got a good swing on it.”

Still, Santana was pleased with his third start of the spring.

“I was supposed to throw 65 pitches and I threw 52, so it was good. I got a lot of ground balls, a ground-ball double play, so it was good,” he said. As always, he said, his goal was to “throw strikes, get the ball down for the most part, and work fast.”

The Twins, who defeated Team USA 3-2 on Wednesday, are 4-1 all-time against WBC teams.

Etc.

• When surgeon Dr. David Altcheck opened Alex Kirilloff’s right elbow on Wednesday, he found the ulnar collateral ligament completely torn. The 19-year-old outfielder has a new one now after successful Tommy John surgery. The Twins’ No. 1 pick from last summer will miss this season, spending it instead rehabbing the elbow at the Twins’ Fort Myers complex. 2

• Lefthanded reliever Mason Melotakis threw a 25-pitch bullpen session Thursday as he recovers from a strained oblique. Melotakis reported no soreness, but he is unlikely to pitch in a Grapefruit League game this spring.

Up next

Their WBC-related detour finished, the Twins return to Grapefruit League play Friday against the in Jupiter, Fla. It figures to be the first professional game that ever featured both Marlins All-Star Dee Gordon and his little brother, Twins shortstop prospect .

Hartman: Dozier stays put; now Twins must rebound from worst season Sid Hartman | Star Tribune | March 10, 2017

The closest the Twins came to a big trade this offseason was moving second baseman Brian Dozier, who was clearly their best player over the past two seasons.

The main team they were negotiating with was the L.A. Dodgers, who reportedly were offering pitching prospect Jose De Leon as the centerpiece of their package for Dozier.

De Leon, 24, recently was ranked as the 29th-best prospect in the minors by Baseball America, after striking out 464 batters in 348⅔ innings over four seasons. But the Twins wanted more in the package and decided to retain their star second baseman.

De Leon eventually was traded to Tampa Bay for a lesser talent in second baseman Logan Forsythe.

“That’s why they have trade deadlines and stuff,” Dozier said at TwinsFest before leaving for spring training. “It will probably be an ongoing thing — and I don’t want it to be, that’s the disappointing thing of it — but I’m here. It’s a lot of different emotions. I think it’s more disappointing in the fact of how much I want to be here and have success and turn this thing around as a team, and then all of a sudden, a lot of trade talk. That’s kind of disappointing, but you live with it.”

So despite all of that, does Dozier still want to be with this franchise?

“Oh absolutely, shoot yeah,” he said. “I got two more years. I wouldn’t have signed the deal I did unless I wanted to be here. I’m here right now, and hopefully I’ll be here for a while.”

Continued success

Dozier had one of the greatest seasons in baseball history for a second baseman in 2016.

He set career highs with 42 home runs, 99 RBI, a .268 batting average, .546 slugging percentage and an .886 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. He finished 13th in the American League MVP voting despite playing on the worst team in baseball.

When asked if he can repeat such a historic season, he said he doesn’t see it that way.

“I don’t like repeating that,” he said. “We lost 103 games. I want to do a lot better than that.”

Dozier said one of the things he’s excited about this season is that the team can grow in so many different areas.

“There’s a lot of things we have to get better at, and that’s what motivates me,” he said.

And while Dozier acknowledged that fans might focus on the Twins’ need for better pitching, he thinks the offense and defense will play as big a role in the team’s improvement as the staff.

“[Pitching is] the main focus. I think the biggest thing is we get [Glen] Perkins back healthy, we get Phil Hughes back healthy, start to see a couple guys turn the corner — Hector Santiago and — Ervin [Santana] is going to be Ervin, the backbone of our staff, but pitching has to be a lot better,” Dozier said. “But I think through and through [we need] all 25 guys hitting, too, and we have to play better defense. We made too many mistakes last year and it cost us a lot of games.”

Is the personnel better than last year’s record? 3

“It is, but at the same time we lost 103 games,” Dozier said. “The talent is there, but our mental focus and ability to do the little things right has got to get better. We have to harp on the little things: not missing cutoff men, keeping double plays in order, the little things that win you ballgames at this level. … We made mistakes last year and we have to get better at that.”

Wild goalies praised

Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher says if you want to know about the Wild’s success this season, you have to look at goalie Devan Dubnyk, who entered Thursday’s games first in the NHL in save percentage (.933) and tied for first in wins (35).

“Dubnyk has been remarkably consistent the past couple of years and he has played great,” Fletcher said. “He’s a big part of our success and he keeps us in every game when we’re not playing well and gives us a chance to get back in it. In the games we are playing well, he seems to make every save he needs to make.

“We’re very fortunate to have him, and we’re also fortunate to have a guy like Darcy Kuemper. It’s great depth to have Darcy. Darcy is a guy that has been a No. 1 goalie in this league, has won a playoff series. It gives us some good protection going down the stretch to have two goalies that have won playoff games and been good in this league.”

The Wild also have avoided serious injuries, compared to last season and the year before, when they missed key players at critical times.

“We’ve had some injuries, but we’ve been fortunate,” Fletcher said. “We’ve had one or two at a time and we’ve been able to, with our depth, get through that. We’re going to need a lot of bodies just from a fatigue standpoint, at a minimum, and it’s going to be a lot of work.”

Jottings

• Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck on walk-on linebacker Blake Cashman’s scholarship status: “We’re working on it. There’s some different rules that I have to follow with the NCAA, but when I can provide him a scholarship, I’ll be honest with you, I’ve already told him he has a scholarship coming. The first opportunity and the first minute I can give that young man a scholarship, he is getting it. I promised it to him. He was in my office and I made sure he knew that. Now I just have to wait for the NCAA deadline on when I can actually give it to him.”

• Jake Guentzel — the former Hill-Murray standout whose father, Mike, is an associate head coach for the Gophers — is seeing extended action with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Guentzel, 22, was named the Penguins’ first star in their 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on Feb. 25. Guentzel has nine goals and eight assists in 28 games.

• The Winthrop Eagles punched their NCAA tournament ticket with a 76-59 victory over Campbell in the Big South tournament championship Sunday. The Eagles have two brothers from Duluth, sophomore guard Bjorn Broman and redshirt junior guard Anders Broman. Bjorn has averaged 5.5 points, 2.2 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game; Anders has averaged 8.3 points, 1.3 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game.

• One item that didn’t get much attention during the Timberwolves’ recent road trip, during which they played some of their best basketball of the season: Forward Nemanja Bjelica scored in double digits in all four games, averaging 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. Bjelica also hit seven of 19 three-pointers over that span.

Andrew Miller believes ex-teammate Craig Breslow is ‘on to something’ Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Twins left-hander Craig Breslow’s two-inning save against Team USA on Wednesday night played out with a very interested ex-teammate in attendance.

Fellow left-hander Andrew Miller, who credits Breslow as a key influence in his mid-career bullpen resurgence, is rooting for Breslow 2.0 to take flight. The two had dinner this week as Miller, now starring for the , passed through town for a pair of pre-World Baseball Classic exhibitions.

“I’m pulling for him,” Miller said. “He’s one of my best friends in baseball now. I’m excited for him. I think he’s on to something and he’s got a good chance over here.”

The two cerebral relievers were in the same bullpen with the from 2012-14. When Breslow set out to reinvent himself last fall, he studied the spin efficiencies of Miller’s vaunted slider and the sinker of closer Zach Britton. 4

“Good places to start,” said Breslow, who signed a minor-league deal with the Twins a month ago. “Realizing I wasn’t ever going to come up with those pitches, but if I could take a look at the break that they have, the spin efficiency, the movement and try to mimic those, then I would be in a pretty good place.”

Miller’s career had just started to turn around in 2012 when Breslow (five years older) landed in Boston via a July 31 trade with the .

“We spent a lot of time sitting out there (in the bullpen),” Miller said. “He’s an incredibly smart guy. Any time I get a chance to be around him, I feel like I get to learn something. I had a blast playing with him on the field. We were able to bond over scouting reports.”

Despite the obvious differences in their frames and velocities, Miller and Breslow were constantly swapping ideas on how to approach hitters.

“Even though our stuff was different, we could look at somebody and say, ‘Hey, this might work for you,’ kind of thing,” Miller said. “He’s generous. I’ve gotten pretty involved in his charitable stuff. He’s got a great charity, as good as they come: the Strike 3 Foundation.”

If Breslow keeps mowing hitters down, the two old friends could be seeing a lot more of each other this season in the American League Central.

INSPIRATIONAL

Twins outfielder has never met Dirk Nowitzki, but he still felt a sense of pride this week upon seeing his fellow German join the NBA’s exclusive 30,000-point club.

“It just shows anything is possible,” Kepler said, “even for a kid from Germany to make that kind of mark in the NBA.”

Kepler has only watched the Dallas Mavericks star play once in person. That was a couple of years ago in Oakland at a Golden State Warriors home game.

Why didn’t he go backs to meet with Dirk after the game?

“Didn’t have courtside seats,” Kepler said with a smile.

BRIEFLY

Outfielder Alex Kirilloff, the Twins’ first-round pick in 2016, underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow Wednesday and was on his way back to Florida to begin the rehab process. Dr. David Altcheck, the New York Mets’ team physician, performed the surgery to repair a full tear of the 19-year-old’s ulnar collateral ligament. … Lefty Mason Melotakis, coming off an oblique strain, threw live batting practice for the first time Thursday and reported no issues. … Switch-hitting utility man Bengie Gonzalez, 27, improved his spring average to .571 (8 for 14) with a two-run homer and three RBIs as the Twins held on for a 10-7 win over Team Colombia. Manager Paul Molitor called the minor-league signing “a pleasant surprise.” … and Adalberto Mejia will each have 45 pitches at their disposal on Friday at the Miami Marlins. … Triple-A slugger Daniel Palka snapped an 0-for-10 with a run-scoring single off the bench. “He’s not getting cheated,” Molitor said. … Ervin Santanastruck out three and gave up a solo homer in a four-inning start. …Closer Brandon Kintzler worked a scoreless fifth on 15 pitches, including a pair of 93- mph fastballs.

Twins’ Danny Santana playing through grief Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Danny Santana only spent two weeks playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason.

Typically a versatile dynamo for Aguilas, the Twins’ utility man hit just .200 in those 13 games and 40 at-bats before heading home for the holidays to spend time with his family.

His heart, quite understandably, simply wasn’t in playing this winter, not after losing his mother, Susana Guzman, to cancer at age 57.

“It’s still very tough,” Santana said. “We kept her things at our house. Sometimes, when I walk in her room, I can still recognize the smell.”

Now 26 and entering his 10th season as a member of the Twins organization, Santana again finds himself out of options and trying to impress a 5 new front-office regime. Amid this pressure, he still must do what he can to prop up his father’s spirits.

Danilo Santana, 66, was married to Susana for nearly 40 years. A retired driver in Monte Plata, D.R., he is predictably struggling with the loss of his lifelong love.

“My father,” Santana said, “is not doing good. Almost every day we talk. I always say to him, ‘Come see me.’ He feels good when he sees me and talks to me.”

Last summer, with Susana’s cancer in remission, she and Danilo traveled to the Twin Cities to support their son and enjoy the fruits of having a child reach the majors.

They spent time with their friends Jose Ramon Santana and Consuela Corporan, the parents of Twins pitcher Ervin Santana. The couples would watch television together, take meals together and sit together at Target Field to watch their sons play baseball.

Ervin Santana remembers Susana for her quiet, friendly nature. Danny Santana, who has dealt with demotion and injury over the past two seasons, always knew he could count on his mother for support and advice.

“When I did good, she always said something good to me,” he said. “When I was struggling, she’d always say, ‘Tomorrow is a new day. Don’t worry about it. You’ll be OK.’ ”

Glancing down at his mother’s name tattooed in script on the inside of his right arm, Santana explained how he kept asking Aguilas manager Manny Acta for patience while his family dealt with his mother’s failing health.

“I couldn’t play when she was alive,” Santana said. “It was hard for me to play and take care of her. Before she died, I would be in the hospital almost every day for three weeks.”

Santana’s home is close to the hospital.

“Sometimes I’d go work out in the morning and have to come back and take her to the hospital because she’d feel bad,” he said. “I was with her always.”

The day before his mother died, Santana found himself desperately searching for Susana’s rare blood type, O-negative, so she could undergo a much-needed transfusion. He got in his car and kept driving from clinic to clinic, doing all he could to keep his mother alive.

“O-negative, it’s the hardest one to find,” he said. “I went to each place and asked, ‘Do you have it?’ Finally, they said, ‘Yes, we have it,’ and I took it back to the hospital for my mom. It was hard to find, but I got it.”

Overnight Santana took a break from his round-the-clock vigil to go back home and “rest a little bit,” but his sister soon interrupted his sleep with a phone call.

“Mom is so bad right now,” she told her brother. “You have to come see her before she dies.”

Santana rushed back to the hospital and saw his mother at 3 a.m. Three hours later, she was gone.

That was in late November, shortly before Santana made an abortive attempt at playing the game he loves. He is back on the field this spring, tending to his professional obligations, and there have been some intermittent moments of joy.

On Monday, playing left field, he made two perfect throws to nab runners at third base and home. Wednesday night, back at his natural position of shortstop, he made a two-base throwing error and failed to grab a foul pop after a long run.

“It’s very, very tough for him, especially the way he was with his mom,” Ervin Santana said. “He took her to different places. They were so close. That’s something you don’t ever want to experience. It’s very sad.”

Thursday morning, Danny Santana said he was considering adding another tattoo in his mother’s memory. Most of all, he said, he planned to remember her sweet voice and the words she spoke to him in the toughest of times.

“Tomorrow is a new day. Don’t worry about it. You’ll be OK.” 6

Sticking with Twins, Ervin sees Classic foe anyway Rhett Bollinger | MLB | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Right-hander Ervin Santana opted not to pitch for the Dominican Republic in this year's World Baseball Classic, but he got a taste of international play on Thursday in the Twins' 10-7 win over Team Colombia at Hammond Stadium.

Santana, coming off a career year in which he posted a 3.38 ERA in 30 starts, decided not to pitch in the Classic, as he wanted to put his focus toward a strong start to the season with the Twins. The righty was mostly solid against Colombia, but he allowed his first runs of the spring, surrendering two of them on four hits, including a solo homer to Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro on an 0-2 fastball in the fourth.

"I have goals," Santana said. "I want to pitch better in the first half. I want to be here to work on stuff."

Santana, lined up to be Minnesota's Opening Day starter for a second straight year, had a 4.06 ERA in 16 starts before the All-Star break, and a 2.65 ERA in 14 starts the rest of the way. He also missed the first half of the 2015 season after being suspended for the use of performance- enhancing drugs.

So Santana is using the long spring to be sharper heading into the regular season, and he enjoyed his test against a Colombia team he was largely unfamiliar with because several of its players are still in the Minor Leagues. Of the batters he faced, Donovan Solano, Jhonatan Solano, Giovanny Urshela and Alfaro have big league experience.

"It's not difficult at all [to prepare] because you have to face them some time anyways, and a lot of them are in the big leagues," Santana said.

"It was good. I got a lot of ground balls."

Murphy turns page on trying year, on and off field Rhett Bollinger | MLB | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Coming off a solid 2015 campaign with the Yankees that saw him crack the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career, catcher John Ryan Murphy had every reason to believe the offseason heading into '16 would be a normal one.

But there was the trade to the Twins for outfielder on Nov. 11, 2015, which turned out to be far from the biggest news Murphy received early that offseason. Shortly before the trade, Murphy found out his mother, Caroline, had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

It's something Murphy kept private throughout a trying year in which he hit .146 in 26 games with Minnesota, while spending much of the season at Triple-A Rochester. Murphy and his parents, who live in Bradenton, Fla., have come to better terms with his mom's condition, and they have been frequent visitors to Fort Myers this spring. But the catcher admits he dealt with a lot on and off the field last year.

"It was just a whole bunch of stuff at the same time," Murphy said.

Murphy, though, arrived at camp this spring with a clearer head and in a more comfortable atmosphere entering his second season in the Twins' organization. Murphy met with manager Paul Molitor early in camp, and he stressed he's ready to move on from last year and show what kind of catcher he believes he can be, as he competes with non-roster invite Chris Gimenez and prospect for the backup role behind Jason Castro.

"He was very transparent," Molitor said. "It was hard for him to go through that. I know he had some other things that he was dealing with off the field too that weren't particularly easy. I don't want to say mulligan, but we're going to clean the slate."

Murphy, 25, spent time in October looking back at his 2016 season and what went wrong, and he believes he's in a better place this year after everything he went through.

"It was fairly easy to turn the page on last year," Murphy said. "I'd never dealt with that kind of struggle on the field. But I took a lot of things last year that will help me grow. I failed on the field more than I ever had. How I respond from that personally will tell me a lot about myself."

Murphy's defense remains his strong suit, but he hit a respectable .267/.311/.374 in parts of three seasons with the Yankees before the trade, and the Twins believe there is some pop in his bat. Murphy has worked to shorten his swing, focusing on being early and slow with his bottom half as he loads his swing. 7

The catcher knows how important his offense is to making the club out of Spring Training, but he is trying not to focus too much on the roster battle.

"There's definitely a competition here, but the way I look it at is that I'm doing my stuff every day, and my focus is on myself and how I can get better," Murphy said. "At the end of camp, whatever happens, happens, but I'm going to take care of what I can control."

Young Berrios a Classic vet for Puerto Rico Thomas Harding | MLB | March 9, 2017

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The tiny bit of hesitation and wonder that right-hander Jose Berrios might have felt last year with the Twins in his first Major League games was long gone Thursday afternoon.

Pitching for Puerto Rico in the first inning of a 10-2 loss to the Rockies, Berrios faced bases loaded and a full-count against Trevor Story, a power- hitting shortstop. Rather than wonder if what he had was good enough, Berrios uncorked a changeup -- arguably the best changeup of anyone in the Minors before he broke into the bigs with 14 starts last year -- and watched Story swing over it to end the inning scoreless.

Last season, Berrios went 3-7 with an 8.02 ERA. It wasn't the storybook beginning anyone would have hoped, but considering that he might be Minnesota's best pitching prospect in a decade, the organization hopes he'll write happier pages. Thursday had to fuel that hope.

Not only is he a key pitcher for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic -- he will start his country's third game against Italy (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, live on MLB.TV and MLB Network) -- but he's competing for the Twins' season-opening rotation.

"It's good for me, for my confidence," Berrios said. "We work every day to do something good. I used all three pitches -- my fastball, my curve, my changeup -- and today I got the opportunity to pitch with the bases loaded, two outs. The big guy, Story, has power, and I competed and threw my best pitch."

The World Baseball Classic runs through March 22. In the U.S., games air live exclusively in English on MLB Network and on an authenticated basis via MLBNetwork.com/watch, while ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN provide the exclusive Spanish-language coverage. MLB.TV Premium subscribers in the U.S. have access to watch every tournament game live on any of the streaming service's 400-plus supported devices. The tournament is being distributed internationally across all forms of television, internet, mobile and radio in territories excluding the U.S., Puerto Rico and Japan. Get tickets for games at Marlins Park, Tokyo Dome, Estadio Charros de Jalisco in Mexico, Petco Park, as well as the Championship Round at Dodger Stadium, while complete coverage -- including schedules, video, stats and gear -- is available at WorldBaseballClassic.com.

Maybe last year, Berrios, 22, would have used the changeup against Story. But the conviction would've been questionable. "I was a rookie guy pitching at the best level, I had a little bit of over-thinking," Berrios said. "But this year, I feel better. The confidence is up. I pitched 14 games in the Majors last year."

Berrios yielded singles to Charlie Blackmon and Ian Desmond, and walked Gerardo Parra before winning his confrontation with Story. While he is young in his career, he's a World Baseball Classic vet. He appeared in 2013 at age 18.

"He's ready for the big leagues, so why not?" Puerto Rico manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "He's ready for this kind of tournament. The quality of hitters he's going to be facing is Major League. It's going to be a great experience for him. That pitch -- 3-2 with the bases loaded -- tells a lot about his maturity as a pitcher."

Worth noting • Puerto Rico dropped both exhibitions in Scottsdale -- 6-5 to the Giants on Wednesday and Thursday's to the Rockies -- but Rodriguez believes a lineup balanced with veterans (Angel Pagan, Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina) and young stars (Javier Baez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Eddie Rosario) is in a good place going into Friday night's opener against Venezuela in Jalisco, Mexico (9 ET, live on MLB.TV and MLB Network).

"That regular lineup played 11 or 12 innings [in exhibitions] and we scored some runs, and we have some speed and power," Rodriguez said.

"We're very balanced and we're expecting a lot from this team."

• Puerto Rico managed two hits off Rockies starter Jon Gray and two runs against highly regarded prospect (No. 44 overall prospect, per MLBPipeline.com) while facing each right-hander for three innings. 8

"It was good to face that kind of quality -- both at 94, 95 [mph] consistently with good secondary pitches," Rodriguez said. "We're pleased going into the tournament and expecting to face Felix Hernandez [on Friday]."

Kirilloff set for rehab after Tommy John surgery Rhett Bollinger | MLB | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Twins top outfield prospect Alex Kirilloff underwent successful Tommy John surgery in New York on Wednesday, and he will head back to Fort Myers to rehab, the club announced Thursday.

Kirilloff, the Twins' first-round pick in the 2016 Draft, is ranked as Minnesota's No. 3 prospect and No. 98 overall by MLBPipeline.com. He injured his left elbow on a throw while playing for Rookie-level Elizabethton on Aug. 28. Dr. David Altchek performed the surgery on Kirilloff, who had a full tear of his ulnar collateral ligament.

It will be five months before he can return to baseball activities such as swinging a bat, but the entire rehab process is expected to take nine months. The Twins are hopeful Kirilloff will be able to participate in the instructional league in late September.

Kirilloff, 19, hit .306/.341/.454 with seven homers, nine doubles and 33 RBIs in 55 games with Elizabethton last year, earning the Appalachian League MVP Award. His season was cut short with the elbow injury, and he tried to avoid surgery, receiving platelet-rich plasma therapy. But Kirilloff's symptoms returned while throwing this spring, and surgery was deemed necessary.

Worth noting

• Left-handed reliever Mason Melotakis, who was slowed early in camp with a strained oblique, threw his first live batting-practice session against hitters on Thursday. But with the first round of roster cuts coming Monday, Melotakis doesn't seem likely to appear in a Grapefruit League game this spring.

• The Twins saw a pair of familiar faces in their exhibition game against Team Colombia, as Minnesota Minor Leaguers Reynaldo Rodriguez and are on the roster and will compete in the World Baseball Classic.

Buxton to ESPN’s Olney: ‘I’ve got a great chance of catching anything out there’ Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. – New Twins coach has worked with outfielders this spring to improve their team defense, and one pupil has no doubt caught his eye. In a chat with manager Paul Molitor earlier this spring, Pickler told the manager that Buxton has a chance to be “unbelievable,” which more or less validates what scouts and prospect trackers have been saying and writing about him for a few years.

“Just between his attitude and willingness to learn and just a lot of things,” Molitor said, recalling the conversation. “[Pickler] obviously had heard about him—everyone knows . But to see it first-hand on a one-on-one drill basis, just his inquisitiveness, he’s made an impression on Pick so far.”

And he’s carried that into games.

Buxton made a diving catch running in toward the infield. He’s also made a running, leaping grab at the center field wall to take extra bases away from Adam Jones.

It’s not hyperbole to say Buxton could win a Gold Glove someday. His ability and work ethic will be the driving forces behind that, but Pickler might play into it as well. Buxton credited the new outfield coach with helping him on small but critical things during a podcast interview with ESPN’s Buster Olney.

“We’ve been working hard to help me get a better first step and to help me get better with my routes,” Buxton told Olney. “I think [Wednesday] was good for me, to show that hard work is showing up in the game and helping me out in the long run.”

That was in reference to crashing into the wall while taking a hit away from Adam Jones.

Those little things could be areas like first-step quickness, attacking a ground ball to cut down the time required and the throwing distance. Or 9 even route efficiency, which the Twins can measure and theoretically improve using tracking technology in ballparks like StatCast. It’s the age of big data in sports and the Twins as an organization are now on board.

Molitor has suggested the Twins will put more focus on outfield positioning using data this season. Pickler will be a part of that. Molitor said you could see the Twins outfielders playing shallower at times this year based on heatmap information that reveals tendencies about certain hitters. The line of thinking goes that if the Twins can play shallow enough to take away a few more base hits — and are still fast enough to retreat and catch or limit damage on balls hit over their head — then they’ll be closer to an optimal defensive strategy. Almost like an elite cover- cornerback in the NFL, Buxton could give the Twins flexibility in that area.

Buxton is the fastest player on the Twins, and he might have the strongest throwing arm among position players, too. In short, the natural tools that would make him a great centerfielder. But ask anybody who’s played the position successfully in the big leagues, there’s a lot more that goes into it than tools. And as good as he’s been, Buxton probably could still refine his game.

Olney asked Buxton to name a big factor in being able to get a good read as soon as a ball is hit.

“As long as I keep my feet moving and [am] ready for that ball once the ball’s in the hitting zone, I’ve got a great chance of catching anything out there. And that’s the way my mentality is,” Buxton said on the podcast. “Just go out there and do whatever you can to help your team get back in the dugout. If it requires crashing into the wall or diving for baseballs, that’s what I want to do to help us get back to swinging the bat.”

Fastest man in the Majors?

Olney also playfully asked who would win in a race between Buxton and Reds speedster Billy Hamilton.

When Buxton gets to top speed he’s flying around the bases. His running motion is a little unconventional, though, and Hamilton has had more MLB success stealing bases.

“That’s close. I don’t know,” Buxton said. “Billy’s fast, I’m fast. But I’ve never really put myself to be ahead of Billy, so I’m going to say Bill on this, just because I saw the way he runs. He’s got a better technique of running, a little bit smarter on the bases.

“He’s one of the guys I watch when it comes to stealing bases and things like that. So definitely Billy. Man’s fast.”

Twins beat Colombia 10-7 in spring training AP | FOX Sports | March 9, 2017

Twins starter Ervin Santana gave up two earned runs on four hits and a walk over four innings. Eduardo Escobar drove in a run with a triple.

Phillies prospect Jorge Alfaro homered for Colombia and Yankees middle infielder Donovan Solano had two hits. Charlie Mirabal, who was once in the Dodgers’ organization, went 2 for 2 with a two-run homer and five RBIs.

Cabrera, Altuve hope for best Venezuelan showing yet in WBC AP | FOX Sports | March 9, 2017

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) A pitcher all of a sudden, went into a windup and Venezuela teammate dropped into a catcher’s crouch.

”Mariano Rivera!” Cabrera shouted, trying to throw a breaking ball like the former Yankees closer.

The mood was light at Team Venezuela’s final pre-World Baseball Classic workout Thursday morning, held before its last exhibition game against the . But when the players take the field in Jalisco, Mexico, for their first WBC game Friday against Puerto Rico, many thoughts will be with their countrymen.

Venezuela’s political and economic turmoil have made the country a dangerous place, and the WBC players are grateful for the peace of playing baseball.

”We’re all aware of that,” manager said. ”One of the things we talked about in the meetings when we came together is that we know how hard things are going for our country, and that’s a big motivation to try to bring a lot of smiles and bring the people together.”

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Just before first pitch, Odor dragged a finger across his chest while looking into the Rangers dugout, pointing out the word ”Venezuela” on his jersey for his major league club teammates to see. There’s a sense of deep pride among the Venezuela players, and they want to uplift the nation’s spirits with WBC success.

”We know as players we have a big responsibility for the people of Venezuela,” catcher said. ”They love the game, they watch it. We have a really good team to go out and compete and hopefully make it to the final.”

Venezuela fielded a quality lineup against the Rangers, anchored by Cabrera batting third and All-Star Carlos Gonzalez in the cleanup spot. All eight starters were major leaguers, along with two players who entered the game later, AL batting champion Jose Altuve and .

The pitching staff is led by former AL Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez, who was already in Mexico Thursday in advance of his start in the opener, and the Rangers’ Martin Perez, who is penciled in for Game 2 against Italy Saturday.

Venezuela looks primed for the WBC, if the two exhibitions it played in Arizona are any indication. The team beat Kansas City 11-0 with 18 hits on Wednesday, including Cabrera’s home run, and scored five runs in the second inning against Texas in a 6-4 win.

”I think we’re ready,” Vizquel said. ”We had a lot of hits and we scored a lot of runs, we pitched well, and that’s all you can ask from your team.”

Gonzalez’s home run was the big hit Thursday. Venezuela hopes to progress beyond its best-ever showing in the WBC, an appearance in the semifinals in 2009.

Right-hander Omar Bencomo spent last season at Double-A and Triple-A in the Minnesota Twins’ organization, and is making his WBC debut. Bencomo says he and his teammates follow the news out of their country very closely.

”We have our families back home and every day they tell us what is going on,” Bencomo said. ”Look, what can I tell you? It’s very sad, but it’s the reality.”

Winning for Venezuela, he added, will provide at least some respite for the people in his native land, who face long lines and skyrocketing prices for basic goods and medicine.

”It’s a huge responsibility, and it’s important because the situation we face in the country is so difficult,” Bencomo said. ”If we are blessed enough to give some joy, it will make Venezuelans very emotional.”

Minnesota Twins: Phil Hughes Changing Approach Kevin Haswell | FOX Sports | March 9, 2017

The Minnesota Twins will need to see improvement from Phil Hughes in 2017. Hughes is looking to change his approach on the mound this season.

Phil Hughes is in his fourth season with the Minnesota Twins and has struggled on the mound. He pitched four innings against minor leaguers on Tuesday and had difficulty with his fastball command. On an 0-2 count, a fastball got away from Hughes and hit Twins prospect Travis Harrison, who left the game to get X-rays.

According to the Pioneer Press, Hughes told reporters that he has been trying to work on getting his fastball inside to change the eye-level of hitters. Changing the eye-level on hitters will lead to his fastball being more successful. It also backs hitters off the plate so that Hughes can go low and away from the hitter with some off-speed pitches.

The outing was Hughes’ third of the spring. He missed the end of the 2016 season after undergoing surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome. Out of the 59 pitches thrown by Hughes, he threw over two dozen changeups. The changeup looks to be a pitch of focus in Spring Training. The changeup was very successful on the day, attributing to a good amount of swings and misses. As he got deeper and deeper in the outing, it looked like Hughes was becoming more comfortable with the pitch.

Hughes’ current fastball is sitting in the 89-90 MPH range, with the occasional pitch reaching 91 MPH. That is down a bit from last year, where Hughes’ fastball averaged 91.3 MPH. Per the Pioneer Press, Twins pitching coach Neil Allen is urging Hughes to throw more changeups this season than last year. Last season, Hughes threw his split-fingered changeup just under 3 percent of the time. That was way down from 2015, when Hughes threw the changeup 10 percent of the time and was a lot more successful.

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Hughes, 30, only managed to throw 59 innings with the Twins last season. In his time on the mound, he posted a 5.95 ERA while striking out only 34 batters. Hughes’ walk rate went up as well from 0.9 BB/9 in 2015 to 2.0 BB/9 last season. Hughes will have to find his control and his off- speed pitches in order to be more successful than he was last year.

Hughes will be changing his approach in the upcoming season by using more off-speed pitches. He will look to improve on a very lackluster season with the Twins. Hughes will be a name to watch as the season progresses and will be an important piece for the Twins to return to the postseason in 2017.

Twins Were Willing To Offer Napoli More Than Rangers Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors | March 9, 2017

The Twins were willing to pay Mike Napoli $11MM on a one-year deal or $16MM on a two-year pact, but Napoli instead is headed back to the Rangers on a one-year, $8.5MM deal with an option for the 2017 season that would allow him to match the $16MM total he could’ve made over two years in Minnesota. The slugger tells Heyman that he’s already made a lot of money in his career and instead prioritized winning.

For An Ailing Rotation, Twins Have An Anchor In Santana AP | CBS Minnesota | March 9, 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — With a rotation badly in need of improvement, the Minnesota Twins can at least count on Ervin Santana as their anchor.

Over the course of his 12-year major league career, the right-hander has been one of the most dependable starting pitchers in the game. He has made at least 30 starts in six of the last seven seasons, with the only exception in 2015 when he served an 80-game suspension for testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol.

There’s no great secret to his consistency that stretches back to his rookie year with the Los Angeles Angels in 2005.

“Throw strikes, keep the ball down for the most part, and just work fast,” Santana said. “That’s the thing.”

Though Twins manager Paul Molitor hasn’t officially named the 34-year-old native of the Dominican Republic his opening day starter, that has become a foregone conclusion and a bit of a running joke in Molitor’s dealings with the media that Santana will take the mound when the Twins host the Kansas City Royals on April 3. Last season, Molitor waited until the final week of spring training to make the official announcement.

Santana was the only Twins pitcher to reach the 150-inning mark (181) in 2016. He was the only starter to finish with an ERA (3.38) under 5.00. Santana also led the Twins in starts (30), complete games (two), strikeouts (149) and walks-and-hits-per-innings-pitched (1.219).

“He does make it look easy just the way he goes about it,” Molitor said. “He gets ahead more times than not, and he pitches to finish.”

Following Santana, incumbents Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Hector Santiago are in line to fill out in the rotation again following a rough year for each of them in their own right. Trevor May, Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey, Ryan Vogelsong and Nick Tepesch are in the mix for a spot, too.

Santana made another solid start against Team Colombia in a World Baseball Classic exhibition game at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers on Thursday, tossing four innings while allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts. The only glaring mistake he made was to Colombia catcher Jorge Alfaro in the fourth inning, when the prospect sent a two-strike, no-ball fastball over the outer half of the plate over the left-center wall.

“He tried to elevate on that 0-2 pitch, and the guy somehow got the barrel on it and smoked it,” Molitor said.

There’s nobody on Minnesota’s staff better equipped to shrug off a bad pitch. In his previous two spring outings, Santana pitched five scoreless innings while striking out three and walking one.

“It happens,” Santana said. “They have a bat. I have a ball. That kind of thing can happen.”

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