Twins’ first full-squad workouts: Observations on what stood out

FORT MYERS, FLA. — The first two days of the Twins’ full-squad workouts were equipped with a few twists.

The Twins were forced inside Sunday because of the rain. There were two dry mounds in the bullpen underneath the left field plaza, and there were two more rarely used mounds in the batting cages. On Monday, with wet fields, they conducted more of their infield defensive work inside the cages.

Despite the rain, the Twins are three days into their live batting practice sessions, though there were no swings when they were inside Sunday. Here are some observations from the start of full-squad workouts:

* Byron Buxton looks happy and healthy. It’s not the first time he’s felt this way at the beginning of spring training, but he’s backed it up on the field. He’s outrunning teammates in wind sprints. He hit a line drive to the center field wall in his first live batting practice at-bat against Bailey Ober. He caught a ball in center field.

The Twins are planning to ease him into spring training games — he may not appear in the first couple of games — but it’s clear the knee surgery he underwent in October to excise the plica in his right knee had the proper effect. “I told [Willi] Castro, me and him are going to have a time with these stolen bases this year,” Buxton said.

* Twins closer Jhoan Duran, unsurprisingly, had the top velocity to begin the live batting practice sessions. There were laughs when his first batter of the spring, Christian Vázquez, had an audible reaction to Duran’s 89 mph curveball on the first pitch. Duran followed it with a 101 mph fastball.

* Griffin Jax drew some “oohs” from hitters when he showcased his sweepy slider, shattering Trevor Larnach’s bat with one of his breaking balls. His fastball sat in the 95-96 mph range to begin the spring.

* Twins prospect Austin Martin has solely worked with the infielders at the start of camp. He will spend plenty of time in center field and left field throughout the spring, manager Rocco Baldelli said, but he isn’t moving to a full-time outfield role. Martin, who finished last year at Class AAA, is a candidate for a backup center field role.

* The longest-hit ball in the first few days of live batting practice sessions belongs to Matt Wallner. He hammered a home run to right field off lefty Brent Headrick, which cleared the right field seats and may have flown over the plaza and out of the ballpark.

* Righthander Matt Canterino, who missed the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, drew swings and misses with three different pitches in his first live BP session. His fastball was up to 95 mph, but he had a pitch at 83 mph that produced an awkward check swing.

* Ober may have given up a ball off the wall to Buxton, but he had some quality pitches against Edouard Julien. Ober pumped a 92 mph fastball past Julien to end their first at-bat and then froze him with a quality 81 mph slider in their second at-bat.

* Reliever Jay Jackson drew swings and misses vs. three separate hitters mixing his 90-92 mph fastball and mid-80s slider.