Wings Roll Pawtucket

Time for more coverage of Red Wings Spring Training presented by MINI of Rochester – opening June first on West Henrietta Road, near Bailey Road.

Our first day at the Twins Spring Training home—the Lee County Sports Complex—is in the books, and it has been a good day for both the Red Wings and the Twins.  The Red Wings pounded Pawtucket 9-2 on the Triple A side while the Twins are in the midst of hammering Tampa Bay 16-4 as I type this entry.

The Wings pounded out 16 hits in their victory over Pawtucket.  The top two hitters in Gene Glynn’s lineup were Darin Mastrioanni and Tsuyoshi Nishioka and each contributed three hits apiece.  Rene Tosoni and Aaron Bates each had RBI hits early in the game as the Wings pulled away for an easy win.

The pitching was excellent too.  Lefty Luke French, who has pitched in the big leagues for Detroit and Seattle, started and went 4.2 innings allowing four hits and two runs.  Former Angles reliever Jason Bulger then pitched the next 2.1 innings without much difficulty.  Another righty, Luis Perdomo, then finished up with two scoreless innings.  

New Wings manager Gene Glynn is very enthusiastic about how this year’s team is shaping up, but the roster is far from set.  The Twins still have about 35 guys in camp and some of those players will obviously filter down to the Wings.  

Some other tidbits from today:

-Justin Morneau had been struggling at the plate this spring but had a huge game for Minnesota crushing two long home runs off former IL Pitcher of the Year Jeremy Hellickson.

-Chris Parmalee is making a strong push to completely skip the Wings and make the Twins out of spring training.  He homered again today for the Twins.  The first baseman was the Twins best hitter last September after a promotion from Double A New Britain.

-Catcher J.R. Towles was impressive today for the Twins with a home run and a double high off the fence. If Towles doesn’t make the Twins as a backup for Joe Mauer, he likely will be one of the Wings catchers.

-Quote from Trevor Plouffe: “I love Rochester…but I have played my last game as a Red Wing.”  Trevor was arguably the best hitter in the IL last year during his time in Rochester last year and looks to have a utility type job locked down in spring training. Most of his time figures to come in the outfield for Minnesota.  I reminded Trevor he could always play in an injury rehab role for the Wings in the future and he said “that would actually be fun.”  Plouffe honestly has really enjoyed his time as a Wing. It’s just time for him to be a full-time big leaguers.

-Righty Luis Perdomo who finished today’s Red Wings game on the mound is not a big guy but appears to have very good stuff.

-Talked to RHP Daryl Thompson who likely will be one of the Wings starting pitchers.  I reminded him that—before making his MLB debut with the Reds in 2008—his last Triple A start was at Frontier Field.  He remembered it like yesterday and claimed he even remembered the very pitch that cost him a complete game victory.  ”That’s probably one of the best games I’ve ever pitched,” he said.

-Former Red Wings hitting coach Riccardo Ingram looks GREAT.  You would never know that he was in a fight for his life in 2009 while dealing with a brain tumor.  

-Red Wings reliever Cole DeVries is quite the world traveler. Pretty much every offseason, Cole and his family take a trip to a place they have never been before.  This winter their destination was Peru!

-2011 Red Wings righty Kyle Gibson is recovering from Tommy John surgery right now but is doing everything except throwing off a mound.  He possibly could pitch for the Wings later in the year.  The former Missouri Tiger couldn’t help himself when he saw my Kansas Jayhawks hat today hollering “that is the worst hat I have EVER seen.” Kyle, sorry KU is in the Elite Eight and the Tigers got bounced in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.  

-On the flip side, new Wings hitting coach Tom Brunansky loved my Jayhawks hat.  After all, Tom’s son is an outfielder on the Kansas baseball team.  Rock Chalk!

-LHP Aaron Thompson, who possibly was going to be with the Wings to start the season, instead will be suspended by MLB to begin the year. Here is a link to the story.

Make sure you check out  http://www.facebook.com/RocRedWings for some photos from today in Fort Myers.

Thanks again to MINI of Rochester for sponsoring this Spring Training Coverage.  

The MINI Roadster, just introduced in January, is the first convertible model

designed strictly for two people. It’s heavy on style, but light on its roof,

providing a lively ride and brilliant handling.

We will be back with more from Twins camp tomorrow.

 

Josh