Spring Training Report: Day Six
The Red Wings still have a couple of days left in Florida before they head north. Their parent club though — the Minnesota Twins — wrapped up their spring today with a game against….THE RED WINGS!
This is the first time the Red Wings and Twins have played an actual exhibition against one another in Spring Training since 2006. (As detailed in yesterday’s blog, that didn’t necessarily go well for everyone involved.) Today’s game, played under cloudy and drizzly conditions, ended in a 3–3 tie. Some of the details….
- Jose Berrios started for the Red Wings and struggled with his control. He walked five and hit one (He plunked Brian Dozier who faked like he was going to charge the mound) in just 2.1 innings. In his Minor League career, Berrios has walked as many as five in only two starts. I think it is safe to say that Berrios was a little over-amped today. He was topping out at 97 mph on the radar gun at Hammond Stadium.
- Daniel Palka homered twice for the Wings yesterday against Pawtucket and also went deep today against Twins starter Kyle Gibson. Palka’s home run today was no joke. It easily sailed over the batter’s eye in center. If Palka cuts down on his strikeouts even just a little bit, he will hit a TON of long balls this year for the Wings.
- ByungHo Park was 1x4 with a single and a nice play or two in the field for the Red Wings despite being disappointed he didn’t make the Twins roster out of Spring Training. If you want to see Park at Frontier Field this season, I would recommend coming out early because I don’t think he will be with the Red Wings very long.
- Since it was just an exhibition today, the Red Wings batted ten players with Kennys Vargas testing his right foot and going 0x3. Vargas fouled a ball off his foot earlier in the week. I haven’t hear yet what the Twins plans are with Vargas and whether or not he might start the season on the disabled list.
- Miguel Sano scorched a double and a home run for the Twins today.
- Sano’s homer was just about the only blemish for the Wings Drew Rucinski. The Ohio State product allowed just the one hit and one walk in 2.1 innings in relief of Berrios.
- Jake Reed set down all five Twins he faced for the Red Wings and looked good doing it. Unfortunately, he left the game with two outs in the ninth inning. Lavelle Neal reported after the game that Reed felt something in his right side. There is no news on how severe the injury is, but — hopefully — it’s nothing substantial. Reed has a chance to be a really good reliever for the Wings if healthy. He was hitting 98 mph on the stadium radar gun today.
- Trevor Hildenberger is going to be one of the Red Wings relievers this season, but he pitched effectively for the Twins today against the Wings. Check out Hildenberger’s numbers HERE. I expect “Hildy” will be excellent out of what could be a very strong Rochester bullpen.
- Here is how Mike Quade’s lineup looked today: Zack Granite CF, Niko Goodrum SS, Matt Hague 3B, ByungHo Park 1B, Ben Paulsen DH, Mitch Garver C, Daniel Palka LF, Ryan Strausborger RF, Bengie Gonzalez 2B. Only three of those men have ever played for the Red Wings before in the regular season.
- You’ll notice Zack Granite in the leadoff spot. The reigning Twins Minor League Player of the Year potentially will be a great table setter for the Twins at the top of the order. He gets on base, steals bases (he tied for the Minor League lead in SB in 2016 with 56) and he appears to be an outstanding centerfielder.
- Check out the Minneapolis Star Tribune story on the surprising demotion of ByungHo Park to the Red Wings.
- The equipment truck carrying the Red Wings equipment left Fort Myers today. Actually, the truck is carrying the equipment for the Wings and the gear for two other teams in the Twins system. The truck will stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee to drop off the Lookouts stuff for the Twins Double-A team. It will then head to Rochester. After dropping off the Wings equipment, the truck will take off for Cedar Rapids to unload the remaining cargo for the Twins Class-A Midwest League team. That is the team with an all ex-Red Wings coaching staff: Manager Tommy Watkins, hitting coach Brian Dinkelman and pitching coach J.P. Martinez.
- The Red Wings play Pawtucket tomorrow before an intrasquad game Sunday. Then the Red Wings fly to Rochester Monday morning.
OK. We now interrupt this blog for today’s interview. Daniel Palka has ripped three home runs for the Wings in the last two days. I visited with him yesterday. Check out the interview right here…
Thanks again for checking out the blog. I need to thank Cory Provus, Dan Gladden, Dick Bremer and Kyle Hammer from the Twins broadcast crew for their hospitality during my trip to Fort Myers. Also…Dustin Morse, Mike Kennedy and Carlos Font from the Twins Communications department were very helpful as well.
The blog isn’t done though despite the fact that I’m heading back to western New York tomorrow. We will have some more odds and ends coming your way in the next couple of days including an interview with former Red Wings manager/current Twins third base coach Gene Glynn.
