Justin Morneau got his way.
The Twins' slugger sent a text message to Ron Gardenhire on Monday after getting a glimpse of Tuesday's lineup. Morneau was listed as the Twins' designated hitter for today's game, so he texted Gardenhire asking to play first base instead.
Sure enough, Morneau is listed in the official lineup here in Dunedin as the cleanup hitter, and first baseman. Chris Colabello, originally scheduled to play first, is now the DH.
Now, Morneau just needs a game to play in.
The Twins' buses arrived in Dunedin during a pouring rain, and more is in the forecast. The wet weather let up for a moment, and ushers began wiping off the seats and the grounds crew began pulling the tarp off the field in hopes of holding batting practice, and eventually a game. But the rain quickly resumed, and the field is covered once more. It's too early to tell whether the Twins and Blue Jays will play their noon CT exhibition game.
There's plenty of interesting storylines if they do, beginning with the mere presence of Morneau and Joe Mauer. Both made the long bus ride here, a rare occurrence this early in the spring, but an indication of how much importance they place on being ready for the World Baseball Classic, which starts in 10 days.
Meanshile, Trevor Plouffe is in the lineup for the first time this spring, his sore calf apparently healed.
Mike Pelfrey, whose absolute confidence that he'll be ready when the season starts, is scheduled to throw the first couple of innings, another big step on his journey back from Tommy John surgery.
