Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Tuesday, March 28
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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Tuesday, March 28, 2017 Will it be Alex Wimmers? Twins relief hopeful tries to grab open bullpen spot. Star Tribune (Neal lll) p. 1 Twins' day at camp: Hughes starts ugly, but ends up acceptable. Star Tribune (Neal lll) p. 2 Edina mansion that belonged to Kirby Puckett has been sold. Star Tribune (Buchta) p. 3 Dessa will sing national anthem at Twins opener. Star Tribune (Staff) p. 4 Front office still mulling cuts as the Twins play the Pirates in Bradenton. Star Tribune (Neal lll) p. 4 Twins coach James Rowson tries to help Miguel Sano take the next step. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5 Twins’ Robbie Grossman vows to be ready by Opening Day. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 6 Sano homers; Hughes goes 6 vs. Pirates. MLB (Berry) p. 7 Grossman nears return to spring action. MLB (Bollinger) p. 8 Twins aim for fast start to 2017 season. MLB (Bollinger) p. 8 Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: A few points in defense of Miguel Sano’s defense. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 9 Twins’ Gibson turning heads at spring training. FOX Sports (Dierberger) p. 11 2017 Power Rankings: Best and worst case for every team. ESPN (Staff) p. 12 Which spring performances should you buy into? ESPN (Bowden) p. 13 Twins season preview: Little change on field. Channel 3000 Madison (Staff) p. 13 LILA Welcomes Minnesota Twins ‘Reading Is Powerful’ program. Forest Lake Times (DeMoe) p. 14 Twins Opening Day: Everything you need to know. FOX 9 (Staff) p. 14 Minnesota Twins Announce Home Opener Plans. CBS Minnesota (Staff) p. 15 A friend to Twins fans in need: DL native has volunteered with the MN Twins’ first aid team for 30 years. Detroit Lakes (Gerdes) p. 15 Will it be Alex Wimmers? Twins relief hopeful tries to grab open bullpen spot La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | March 28, 2017 BRADENTON, FLA. – Alex Wimmers has been known for his trusty changeup ever since the Twins selected the righthander in the first round in the 2010 draft out of Ohio State. “I throw it at the beginning of counts, the middle of counts, the end of counts,” Wimmers said. “I’m going to throw it.” He is trying to see if he can throw it in a major league stadium as soon as next week. Wimmers, who got a taste of the majors last season, finds himself still in big-league camp as the Twins finalize their 25-man roster to start the 2017 season. The 28-year-old Wimmers has given up only two earned runs in nine innings of work this spring on eight hits and four walks while holding opponents to a .229 batting average. Twins manager Paul Molitor, who would like to finalize his roster over the next couple of days, pointed at Wimmers’ time as a starter in the minor leagues and described him as someone who could pitch long relief if needed. While Wimmers’ changeup has been above average going back to his college days, he also has a slider and curveball to complement his low-90s fastball. On Sunday, Wimmers touched 94 miles per hour with his fastball — it’s usually 90-93 mph — and flashed a changeup in the mid-to-upper 80s. He also mixed in a curveball that came in a 77 mph. “He’s a had a really good camp,” Molitor said. “He throws all four pitches out of the bullpen, which makes him unique.” That could make him a good fit. The Twins appear to have five of seven spots in the bullpen secure: Righthanders Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressly and Matt Belisle, and lefthanders Craig Breslow and Taylor Rogers. Rogers has left little doubt that he belongs in the bullpen. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning Monday during the Twins’ 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh and has a 1.64 ERA this spring. “I have a lot of confidence in him,” Molitor said of Rogers, who made 57 relief appearances with the Twins as a rookie last season. The release last week of veteran Ryan Vogelsong opened up a second opening in the bullpen. Righthander Michael Tonkin has a 4.38 ERA this spring after pitching a scoreless seventh inning Monday — but Molitor pointed out his two-out walk. Tonkin is out of minor league options, and being out of options can me a tiebreaker sometimes. Rule 5 pick Justin Haley, also a righthander, has a 6.08 ERA this spring, making it hard for the Twins to keep him around. Haley would have to be offered back to the Red Sox if the Twins don’t put him on the 25-man roster. Righthander Nick Tepesch will start Tuesday against Tampa Bay, but he also could be an option out of the bullpen. And the Twins appear to prefer using righthander Tyler Duffey as a starter only. Molitor, before Monday’s game, pointed out that teams often end up calling up two to three more starters during the first month of the season. Last April, the Twins summoned five pitchers from Class AAA Rochester during the first month of the season, including starters Duffey, Alex Meyer and Jose Berrios. So having depth is important. If Duffey doesn’t make the rotation — he is battling Adalberto Mejia for that role — he is likely headed to Class AAA Rochester to pitch out of the Red Wings rotation. “That’s something you have to be aware of,” Molitor said. “You want multiple options if you need to go down there.” And that could lead to the door cracking open for Wimmers, who has fought the good fight since battling severe control problems early in his professional career, then having Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in April 2012. One hurdle could be that he’s not on the 40- man roster, having been removed in November. Still, Wimmers has made it to this point. There are plenty of pitchers now at the minor league camp who can’t boast that. “I just focus on what I can control,” Wimmers said. “I’m just kind of go out there and compete when I can and see what happens. I’m just going to continue to be confident in my pitches and attack hitters like I always have.” Twins' day at camp: Hughes starts ugly, but ends up acceptable La Velle E. Neal lll | Star Tribune | March 28, 2017 BRADENTON, FLA. – Home run. Hit batter. Home run. “It wasn’t the start anyone wanted to see,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. But Phil Hughes adjusted, got his pitches down and got on a roll. The Twins lost 4-1 to Pittsburgh on Monday, but Hughes came away feeling better about himself after a rocky first inning. He gave up another run in the second inning, but he faced the minimum 12 batters over the final four innings of his outing. Hughes gave up a leadoff home run to Pittsburgh’s Adam Frazier on a cut fastball that was up in the strike zone, hit Josh Harrison with a pitch and then didn’t get a changeup in enough on Andrew McCutcheon. After that early 3-0 deficit, though, Hughes stopped leaving pitches up. He used his changeup and curveball effectively as he threw his arsenal of pitches on both sides of the plate. He also got ahead early in the count and found a good rhythm. The game was played in 2 hours, 10 minutes, largely because Hughes dictated the pace. 2 Hughes threw 79 pitches over six innings, then tossed another 11 in the bullpen afterward. “If you would have told me after the first inning that I would have had to throw more pitches in the bullpen I wouldn’t have believed you,” Hughes said. The Twins’ lone run came on Miguel Sano’s homer in the second inning. Sano entered the game batting .195 this spring. Injury updates First baseman Kennys Vargas (sore right foot) was able to take batting practice Monday, but there’s no timetable on his return. Outfielder Robbie Grossman (sore groin muscle) participated in a full workout and will play two innings Tuesday in a minor league game. Infielder Ehire Adrianza (right oblique) has not begun baseball activities yet. Lefthander Ryan O’Rourke (flexor mass) is feeling better but hasn’t started a throwing program yet. The arm Catcher Jason Castro threw out Josh Harrison trying to steal second base in the third inning, on a throw that put the ball right on the first-base side of the bag, and knee-high — a perfect throw that led to an easy tag. Molitor said the throw was timed at just above 1.9 seconds. “Which is really good,” he said. “On not the best pitch to throw, it was down a little bit. [But] on the money.” Etc. • Twins relievers this week will be used in back-to-back games as they fine-tune for the regular season. • Former Twins player and coach Al Newman was in attendance at Monday’s game. • The Twins expect to announce this week that their home opener on Monday against Kansas City has been sold out. On deck Nick Tepesch will start on Tuesday as the Twins play host to Tampa Bay. The 28-year-old former Texas pitcher remains an option to be a long reliever. Edina mansion that belonged to Kirby Puckett has been sold Jim Buchta | Star Tribune | March 27, 2017 After four months and a modest discount, Kirby Puckett's former house in Edina has a new owner. The sale of the 7,978-square-foot house closed on Friday for $1.57 million.