Phil Hughes was asked on Monday if he had been named the Opening Day starter. "Unofficially," he said, meaning that he had heard about the appointment but not by someone with authority. Twins manager Paul Molitor pretty much made it official a few minutes later. "Right now, at least in pencil and preliminarily, that's what we have in mind," Molitor said.
Hughes, 16-10 with a 3.52 ERA last season, will make his first ever Opening Day start. The closest he got was last season, when he started the Twins' second game. Ricky Nolasco got the Opening Day nod last year. This one was a forgone conclusion, as Hughes, by far, was the Twins' most effective starter last season. It would make sense that Ervin Santana would be the No. 2 starter, but Molitor wasn't going there yet. "I don't know if there's really any urgency to try to make any of those things public," Molitor said. "I see the announcements every spring: 'Such and such was named Opening Day starter.' If that's newsworthy, then so be it. I don't think too many people would be surprised, if Phil Hughes has a healthy spring, that he starts our first game." Hughes would be the fourth different Opening Day starter for the Twins in the last four seasons. Nolasco started last year, then Vance Worley, then Carl Pavano,
