YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
twins/mlb
Joe Christensen, the Star Tribune's national baseball reporter, has covered the big leagues since 1998. A Faribault native, he graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1996. Before working for the Star Tribune, he spent three years covering the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun. He also covered the Padres and Dodgers for newspapers in Southern California. He'll share his thoughts here on the Twins and all things baseball.
SARASOTA -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said the team probably won't have an update on Joe Nathan's right elbow until Tuesday.
Nathan was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam and CT-Scan today in the Twin Cities and return to Fort Myers tonight. I'm sure the Twins will hunker down, look at the results and talk to Nathan before making a plan.
Gardenhire said he's thinking about batting Michael Cuddyer fifth this year, which would break up the lefthanded trio of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel ... or Mauer, Morneau and Jim Thome. Cuddyer hit 32 homers last season, so opposing managers would have a decision to make when facing his righthanded bat.
Gardenhire said Pat Neshek has a sore hamstring, and Glen Perkins has some back stiffness. Neither injury sounded too serious. Also Denard Span has a sore left forearm from all the throwing drills outfielders do early in camp. Gardenhire told him to ease up with his throwing today, but again, this shouldn't be a big issue.
It's neat to hear all the good things the Orioles have to say about Sarasota. They were stuck in an ancient facility in Fort Lauderdale through last year, but with the Reds moving to Arizona, Sarasota opened up.
Ed Smith Stadium is a relic, but as soon as spring training ends, Sarasota plans to pour about $31.2 million into a renovation project. One thing that hamstrung the Orioles all those years was having their big league camp in Fort Lauderdale and their minor-league camp in Sarasota. It's about a four-hour drive.
The Twins, of course, have all their minor leaguers just down the sidewalk from big league camp, and now the Orioles have everyone close, too. Anyway, Sarasota is one of the shortest Grapefruit League trips for the Twins, so it's nice having a happy tenant about 70 minutes away.
Note: The Twins had Nick Blackburn scheduled to start, but it will be Kevin Slowey with Blackburn following in relief. No big deal. They went in the opposite order last Thursday against Boston.
TWINS
1. Ben Revere, CF
2. Nick Punto, 3B
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF
4. Jason Kubel, DH
5. Brendan Harris, 3B
6. Jacque Jones, LF
7. Luke Hughes, 2B
8. Chris Parmalee, 1B
9. Drew Butera, C
Scheduled pitchers: Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Jose Mijares, Jeff Manship, Clay Condrey, Anthony Slama.
ORIOLES
1. Felix Pie, LF
2. Adam Jones, CF
3. Miguel Tejada, 3B
4. Luke Scott, 1B
5. Matt Wieters, DH
6. Lou Montanez, RF
7. Cesar Izturis, SS
8. Craig Tatum, C
9. Robert Andino, 2B
Scheduled pitchers: Brian Matusz, Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara, Armando Gabino (the former Twin), Frank Mata, Ross Wolf.
Ed Smith Stadium. First pitch: 12:05 p.m. (Central). No TV. No radio.
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