Twins take the field, and Rocco Baldelli shares team's strategy on how they'll get ready

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Rocco Baldelli strolled through the Twins bullpen on the first day of training camp Sunday, hugged a couple of pitchers he encountered for the first time, chatted with a coach, then ambled on towards the adjacent diamond where hitters were taking batting practice.

If trying to cram seven weeks of spring training into a 25-day calendar, organizing tasks with a revamped coaching staff and figuring out how to reverse an unexpected descent into last place is stressful, the Twins manager doesn't show it.

"It's going to be a little bit of a different camp. We have a different team," Baldelli said on the eve of the first official full-squad workout. "I'm hoping we're not behind at all, to be honest. I know the limited time on the field and the number of games will certainly make it different. That being said, I don't necessarily know if that puts anyone at a disadvantage."

Baldelli sounded eager to get started, and no wonder: Rather than the traditional 10-day run-up to the first Grapefruit League game, a time spent teaching and tweaking fundamentals, the Twins get three full workouts, starting Monday morning, before taking the field against Boston on Thursday. And forecasts say it might rain on two of them.

"We knew it might be crazy when the lockout ended. There would be a mad rush. Time would be very limited," Baldelli said. "We tried to come down to just a handful of goals for each guy, very specific. I think it's going to be very helpful. You can make a very specific point to a guy, first day in the door, 'This is what we're spending our time on.' That's what players like, and that's what helps them."

Only five players on the Twins' 40-man roster, plus newly acquired pitcher Sonny Gray, were not in camp on Sunday; even new shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who learned he was a member of the Twins just 24 hours earlier, arrived in time to take his physical and move into his new locker. The five missing Twins — Jorge Polanco, Josh Donaldson, Miguel Sano, Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman — have all been in contact with the team and hope to arrive Monday.

Baldelli said it's clear to him that his players didn't use the extended winter as vacation time. "It's very obvious, looking at many of them, that the time was well-spent," he said. Most of the players who ended the season injured have recovered well. "I don't think there have been any surprises," he said.

Now, he hopes to create a team that surprises the rest of the league after a 73-89 plunge to the AL Central cellar.

"I hope to play some kind of more traditional baseball the way that we know it, and do some different things. Use our legs maybe a little more," Baldelli said. "There will be some different approaches as far as the way we coach, and the way and really the expectations we have when we got out there and start working and get into our drills. … We're ready to get started."