With just two days before their spring training lid-lifter, the Twins had to alter their workout schedule on Wednesday.
It's raining in Fort Myers this morning - that steady, depressing kind of rain that has turned the all the infields at the CenturyLink Sports Complex into quicksand. The rain is expected to continue into the late afternoon. I have some friends down from the Twin Cities who are supposed to golf at LaPlaya this afternoon. Sorry boys.
But the Twins are going to make the most of their day. Pitchers MUST stay on their throwing schedules, so they will likely throw in the batting cages and the covered part of the bullpen at Hammond Stadium.
Other areas near the batting cages will be used for drills. Sounds like Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer are going to hold baserunning meetings there. The Twins are trying to come up with ways to be productive today without using the mushy fields.
Talked to a few pitchers today about MLB's decision to no longer require four pitches for an intentional walk. The new rule will allow teams to signal that they want to put a hitter on first, and that hitter automatically will head for first.
I got three different reactions. Some noted that it would be four less pitches charged to their pitch totals - four fewer balls, at that.
Some pointed out that it's a game with human error, and if a pitcher can't execute an intentional walk he should be punished for it.
And others said that the change won't make a difference. There aren't many intentional walks to make a noticeable difference time of games.
