Twins' roster splits as half the team catches flight to Dominican Republic

A handful of players quickly took their turns in the batting cage, and then were dismissed for an early afternoon flight to Santo Domingo to play Detroit on Saturday.

March 6, 2020 at 3:46PM
Nelson Cruz
Nelson Cruz (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The entire Twins camp roster took the field for batting practice this morning, but that didn't last long. A handful of players quickly took their turns in the cage, and then were dismissed in order to get dressed and packed for an early afternoon flight to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

It's an unusual road mid-camp road trip, which will culminate in the Twins' game with the Tigers tomorrow, in front of dozens of friends and family members of Miguel Sano, Nelson Cruz and Gilberto Celestino.

Now the remaining half of the roster — most of this season's projected starters, actually — are on the field, completing their pregame workout for today's 1 p.m. ET game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jhoulys Chacin will face righthander Yonny Chirinos in that game, with former (twice) Twin Ryan LaMarre in the lineup for the Rays.

Bill Evers, who managed Rays' minor-league teams for a decade, will manage the Twins against his old organization today, with Rocco Baldelli and bench coach Mike Bell traveling.

Here are the lineups for today's game in Hammond Stadium (no TV):

RAYS

Arozarena RF

Choi 1B

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Martinez DH

Wendle 3B

Smith C

LaMarre LF

O'Grady CF

Brosseau SS

Fox 2B

Chirinos RHP

TWINS

Kepler RF

Arraez 2B

Polanco SS

Donaldson 3B

Garver C

Gonzalez 1B

Adrianza DH

Cave CF

Kirilloff LF

Chacin RHP, followed by Clippard, May, LIttel

about the writer

about the writer

Phil Miller

Reporter

Phil Miller has covered the Twins for the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2013. Previously, he covered the University of Minnesota football team, and from 2007-09, he covered the Twins for the Pioneer Press.

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