Sore shoulder will keep Twins' Jose Miranda from playing in World Baseball Classic

FORT MYERS, FLA. — Team Puerto Rico lost another Twins infielder on Wednesday.

Jose Miranda, whose throwing shoulder has grown too sore to allow him to play third base for the past week, will not take part in the World Baseball Classic, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli announced Wednesday. Miranda joins teammate Carlos Correa, whose wife is due to give birth to their second child within the next couple of weeks, on the sideline for their Puerto Rican homeland.

"He would really like to play in the event, but he understands," Baldelli said. "He knows he is not capable of playing in the field right now."

Miranda's sore shoulder is not considered serious, the manager said, and he expects his third baseman to be ready by Opening Day. He has continued to serve as designated hitter while resting his arm.

But "he's not going to be playing in the field for the next four or five days, at the very least. He's got a ways to go," Baldelli said. "Having him with Nick [Paparesta] and the [other] trainers on a daily basis from here until the beginning of his season is very important."

The Puerto Rican team, which will begin training together early next week, will still include four other Twins: catcher Christian Vazquez and pitchers Jorge Lopez, Emilio Pagan and Jovani Moran. Two other pitchers in the Twins' spring camp, Jose De Leon and Dereck Rodriguez, are on the roster, too, plus former Twins Jose Berrios, Eddie Rosario and Hector Santiago.

Correa fouled off the first pitch he saw in his 2023 debut on Wednesday, watched it disappear behind him, then took a couple of steps away from the plate as he adjusted his grip. Suddenly, he turned back around and jumped into the batter's box, a surprised look on his face.

"I forgot, man! I was all comfortable and just like, 'Ooh, that swing felt good, OK,' " Correa explained. "And all of a sudden, it's like, 'Oh no, there's a clock!' "

Yes, after a strange offseason of shopping for a new team, Correa was back at shortstop for the Twins, just where he was last October. Only, the game has changed in the interim.

Correa is still adjusting to the new rule that requires infielders to be standing on the dirt when the ball is pitched. He prefers to play a deep shortstop, since his arm is strong enough to throw out most batters from short left field.

"I'm not used to that. I was asking [umpire Andy Fletcher] a bunch of questions to make sure I understood every single thing they're looking at," Correa said. "He told me that my heel can't be touching the grass at any time. So I try to play back as far as I can without breaking the rule."

Correa went 1-for-2 against 19-year-old Phillies pitcher, and fellow Scott Boras client, Andrew Painter, with a single and a fly out. "Boras told me to take it easy on him," Correa joked, "so I only hit a single."

Jake Cave hit his first home run of the spring on Wednesday, a 427-foot blast that cleared the right-field party area at Hammond Stadium and landed outside the ballpark. But for the first time in six years, it didn't count for the Twins.

Cave, whose Twins career ended with a waiver claim by Baltimore last October, is now a Phillie. His home run, off new Twin Dennis Santana, put Philadelphia in front, but the Twins rallied on a Ryan Jeffers home run and a bizarre two-run wild pitch to finish in a 4-4 tie.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Twins minor leaguer Ernie Yake singled off Phillies pitcher Francisco Morales, who then walked the bases loaded. Braden Zarbinsky was summoned to replace Morales, but he bounced a curveball in the dirt and past catcher Aramis Garcia. Yake scored on the wild pitch, and when Garcia's throw to Zarbinsky was also wild, Alex Isola scored, too.

Bailey Ober pitched his first inning of the season, and recorded three strikeouts. Jhoan Duran pitched as well, and six of his 12 pitches were clocked at over 100 mph.