Twins' Tim Beckham gets an extra flip after home run against Rays

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Twins-Rays rivalry extends beyond just the managers, it seems.

Tim Beckham, the overall No. 1 pick by Tampa Bay in the 2008 draft, crushed a 404-foot home run onto the left-field concourse off his old team on Thursday, and punctuated the seventh-inning moment with a celebratory bat flip over his shoulder.

"It felt pretty good. Pretty good," said Beckham, a non-roster invitee who is trying to make the Twins as a utility infielder. "It meant a little something. We're playing ball, man, we're having fun. Let the kids play, right?"

Beckham, whose Tampa Bay career lasted only 2½ seasons before he was traded to Baltimore in 2017, stared into the Rays' dugout as he jogged slowly up the first-base line, but he said he was just having fun with the moment and with some players and staff members he knows from his time there.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said he understood Beckham's enthusiasm. "He was excited. I was happy for him," Cash told the Tampa Bay Times. "Beck's a good player. Glad to see he's healthy. He made a nice play in the field and he hit a bomb."

Beckham said he didn't hear any reaction from the Rays, but "I don't care what they said from the dugout. … We're just having fun."

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who once worked for Cash in Tampa Bay, and his old boss frequently find ways to tweak each other before games.

"He did good work for us," Baldelli said. "He's going to do more good work in the big leagues, I'm pretty sure of that."

Jhon Romero, claimed off waivers from the Nationals, will make his Twins debut on Friday. Free-agent signee Joe Smith is scheduled to pitch for the first time on Saturday.

And the player Twins fans are most eager to see, Correa, took batting practice again Thursday and figures to play his first game this weekend.

Sonny Gray's schedule, though, remains more of a question. Acquired nearly two weeks ago from Cincinnati, the veteran righthander has thrown two bullpen sessions and on Tuesday threw live batting practice to a handful of Twins hitters.

What's next? Another bullpen session, Baldelli said, with no indication yet when Gray's initial appearance in a Grapefruit League game might come. Gray is healthy but needs to ramp up at a measured pace, the manager said, without rushing things just because spring training camp is so abbreviated this year.