DETROIT — Akil Baddoo was once a teammate of Brent Rooker. He was in the same lineup as Ryan Jeffers. Heck, for a handful of rehab games, he was on the same side as Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano.
So how could he treat his friends like this?
"He's such a good kid. He deserves everything he's getting," Jeffers said Monday — before Baddoo victimized his former organization with two hits and four RBIs in the Twins' 15-6 victory at Comerica Park. "It's awesome to see him have the success that he's having. Hopefully, the next two games he doesn't have that same success, but I wish him all the best."
Safe to say, he had the same success in the first game of the series. Baddoo singled in the fifth inning, and in the ninth, clubbed a 91-mph mistake of a sinker in the middle of the plate to a spot in the Twins' bullpen, a grand slam and his second home run of the season.
His victim? Randy Dobnak. Yeah, they were both Cedar Rapids Kernels for most of 2017.
"I probably know the entire starting nine," said Baddoo, who homered Sunday against Cleveland on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues. "A lot of familiar faces. It was definitely good to see those guys.
"I'm just loving that all my hard work is finally paying off."
The Twins drafted Baddoo out of high school in 2016, a teenager from Georgia who seemed a little timid — except on the baseball field. But he suffered from arm injuries that cost him most of the 2019 season, and then 2020 was canceled in the minor leagues. So the Twins didn't know what they had last winter, and decided against putting him on their 40-man roster, thus subjecting him to the Rule 5 draft.
