Nelson Cruz will be the face of the Twins' revamped "Three True Outcomes" lineup when he and his teammates take the field (well, actually, he'll be the designated hitter) at 3:10 today for their season opener against Cleveland at Target Field.
Cruz finally hit his first home run of spring training in the final game and quipped "It was all planned," during his Wednesday news conference.
He said his goal is to help the team into the postseason.
"That's what we play for," he said. "Once you play in the league for a little bit, the reason to play is to be in that atmosphere, to be a part of it, to see fans wave towels around. That's why I work out every day, that's why I take my naps and eat healthy."
"We play a lot of games. That should be the key for every player. To be able to play 160 games, through 600 at-bats. And you have the ability to perform every day, prepare yourself every day, you're more likely to be successful."
Plenty of pregame reading on our site today, including La Velle's cover story on Jose Berrios and Phil's look at Twins players taking part in Opening Day for the first time.
"Every year, you feel different, new teammates, different energy," left fielder Eddie Rosario said about Opening Day. "This one is very special to me. I feel good about this team to go far."
(Star Tribune photo by Anthony Souffle)
