Twins Spring Training Notes: 3/13/2018

Here are my latest Twins' Spring Training notes; the next installment will be coming live from Fort Myers this Thursday:

• Twins manager Paul Molitor is not sure whether he wants 4 or 5 starters  to begin the season
• Phil Hughes had a decent outing against the Yankees, but he never touched 91 mph (here is a chart of all of his pitches.)  He has turned into a RH junk baller, and I am not sure that the Twins can afford that in their rotation while competing.
• Beating the Yankees, Spring Training or not, does matter for the Twins.
• Lance Lynn hit 94 in the first inning as a Twins' player; it was an 1-2-3 inning.   He was hitless in 3 innings and threw 41 pitches against Baltimore.  He walked one and struck out 5.
• Trevor Hildenberger who appeared in his 6th game this Spring against the Orioles, continued his lackluster performances.  He has pitched a total of 6 innings, allowing 13 hits, 2 HRs, 8 runs (5 earned), walked 3 and struck out 5.  His ERA is 7.50 and WHIP is 2.67.  I see him starting the season in AAA, esp. with Gabriel Moya and Myles Jaye having good Springs.
• The Twins have cut pitchers John Curtiss, Stephen Gonsalves (their ninth overall prospect,) Adalberto Mejia, Fernando Romero (their fifth overall prospect,) and Aaron Slegers.
• Erick Aybar was pretty awful on the field against the Yankees; just cannot see him get a spot.  He is just too short (5' 10") and his arm is not strong enough to play at third base, so the Twins should stop that experiment.
• Eddie Rosario and Ehire Adrianza are still sitting out.  Their injuries seem to be more serious than predicted.   Rosario might not be ready to start the season at this point, which might make another bench spot available.
•  I did not know that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine upon their arrival turned the physical space of the Twins' Front Office into an open office environment, reducing doors and walls
• As I indicated the next installments will be daily from Fort Myers starting this coming Thursday.  I will also be live tweeting esp. in games; if interested feel free to follow me on twitter @thrylos98

I will be making more such notes in somewhat regular intervals few times a week and daily when I am at Fort Myers. To see all the notes and coverage of the 2018 Twins' Spring Training, including live reports from Fort Myers in the second half of March, please visit here