Patrick Reusse: Manager thinks Tolbert might be more than utility infielder

FORT MYERS, FLA. — Nick Punto was such a contributor to the Twins' astounding 104-game drive to a division title in 2006 that they decided to remain loyal to him.

He came out of the chute batting .220 in April as the regular third baseman. This created a hole in the infield that never was filled.

At season's end, the players who were in the batting order as the third baseman combined to hit .236 with six home runs and 46 RBI.

The Twins' hardcore fans were nominating replacements for Punto 15-20 games into the schedule. One player mentioned often was Matt Tolbert, who was on fire in Rochester, N.Y., even as the Class AAA Red Wings played around snow drifts.

Tolbert was a slap-and-run type rather than a power hitter at third base, but Twins fans saw an average in the .400 neighborhood and shouted, "Why not give him a shot?"

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire also was being asked that question with some frequency. He would respond by saying Tolbert wasn't ready -- that he had to slow down and "clean up" some things in his game to play effectively in the big leagues.

Come late May, the explanation became Tolbert was injured.

Tolbert missed a couple of weeks. He cooled some on his return, although he still was batting .313 at the All-Star break. He played in both the Futures Game on July 8 in San Francisco and in the Class AAA All-Star Game two nights later in Albuquerque, N.M.

"The hot streak at the start of the season was the longest I've ever had as a player," he said. "It's great when everything you hit goes through a hole. You start to expect it.

"Of course, then came the other side of it -- when you keep hitting into hard outs."

He batted .267 after the All-Star break. He finished at .293 with six home runs, 53 RBI and 65 runs scored. The average led the Red Wings' regulars but didn't earn him a September call-up to the Twins.

Tolbert will turn 26 in May. He's listed at 6 feet, and that's generous by a couple of inches. He's a switch-hitter with excellent speed.

The Mississippi drawl is clear, and his answers to questions come with "sirs" attached to them.

He came into the organization in June 2004 as a second baseman but now says: "I'm a utility infielder. I'm comfortable playing second, shortstop or third."

There's a very influential person in the Twins organization -- the manager -- that might disagree.

"He has a chance to be a pretty good big-leaguer, and I'm not talking about as a role player," Gardenhire said. "I'm talking about being a regular at second or shortstop.

"When I first saw him a couple of years ago, the description I thought of was, 'Hummingbird.' He was zipping here, there, not slowing down long enough to pick up some things he needed to know about the game.

"I guarantee that. If you tell him there's something to be done on a baseball field in a camp like this and he doesn't take off immediately, I will kiss ..."

The completion of that sentence is unnecessary. What matters is that Gardenhire has found a player that every manager loves: a run-through-a-wall guy with talent.

Tolbert's desire to be a ballplayer goes back to his youngest days in the backyard in Woodville.

"We had a Wiffle ball machine, and that's where my father started me as a switch-hitter," Tolbert said. "I was 8 or 9 and he said, 'You're not going to be a power hitter, but this can be an advantage for you."'

What is Dad's name? "Moose," Tolbert said.

Moose and his wife, Patti, already have made a visit to spring training.

"My mom bought out the souvenir stand, like she always does," he said. "Our house is filled with stuff from E-town [Elizabethton], the [Fort Myers] Miracle, New Britain, Rochester, all my stops in the Twins' organization."

Next (maybe by midseason): Minnesota.

"Oh, she already has all the Twins stuff," he said. "My parents fly a Twins flag in front of the house in Woodville."