Minnesota Twins begin regular season tonight
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
Get your gloves out, put on your foam fingers, and don’t forget to buy your peanuts and cracker jacks, because it’s finally here. Baseball is back and, for the first time in 50 years, every team will be taking the field on opening day.
In particular, the Minnesota Twins are facing the Baltimore Orioles at 2:05pm this afternoon in Baltimore, MD.
The Twins finished second in the division last season with a record of 85-77. They reached the playoffs before losing to the Yankees in the Wild Card round, who lost to the eventual AL champions, the Cleveland Indians.
The Twins will enter the season with a new-look pitching rotation. The Twins’ stud right-handed pitcher, Ervin Santana, will begin the season as the number one pitcher in the rotation, despite having a finger injury. Last year he led the rotation in ERA with 3.28, strikeouts with 167 and wins, 16. After him is the promising young pitching star, Jose Berrios, who trailed only 30 strikeouts behind Santana. Berrios also finished the season with a 3.28 ERA. To round out the pitching rotation, it’ll be newly acquired pitchers, Jacob Odorizzi and Lance Lynn, with Kyle Gibson finishing it off.
Second baseman, Brian Dozier, is looking to keep the momentum going after having a great season. Dozier led the team in RBI’s (93), HR’s (34), and hits (167) last season for the ball club. Dozier can not only can hit the ball into the stands, he can also steal bases, with 16 last year. He is joined by fellow speedsters Byron Buxton (29) and Jorge Polanco (13). Behind the plate is Jason Castro and his backup Mitch Garver, both ready to call the pitches and catch baserunners stealing.
Alongside this young club is Miguel Sano, who was the runner up in last year’s Home Run Derby. Other sluggers on this team include Max Kepler and Logan Morrison. And as always, the one and only Joe Mauer, will be in the starting lineup for his 15th season with the club.
Manager Paul Molitor will be returning to the heir for his fourth year as the Twins head coach. After falling to the Yankees last year, and not being in the playoffs prior to 2010, he will be looking to put the bar for success high. With a city, which hasn’t witnessed a World Series in over 30 years, the pressure is on for the Twins to be successful.
The Minnesota Twins had quite the offseason. What seems to be a complete overhaul could very well appear to be an experiment of sorts, as more than 15 players have been optioned to either the AAA or AA team. At the same time, the ballclub signed many free agents right after the season ended as well as assigning players from the minors to an upgrade as they will get their shot as a Twin.
After an exciting season and what looks to be a promising future, the Twins will be walking onto the field today, expecting big things and ready to get the ball rolling.