Good afternoon from Target Field, where it is a perfect day for baseball. It should remain in the mid-60s throughout the game.
P.J. Fleck is in the house and will throw out the first pitch.
Unfortunately the NHL scheduled the Minnesota Wild’s Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues at 2:00 pm today — an hour after first pitch. Even Twins manager Paul Molitor, an avid hockey fan, was a bit bummed about it.
It’s Adalberto Mejia (L, 0-1, 4.05 ERA) versus Matthew Boyd (L, 2-1, 3.77). Mejia got shelled in his first outing against the White Sox on the South Side (1.2 innings, two earned runs), but did better against the Sox at home in his second start (5.0 innings, one earned run).
“He’s a fairly calm guy for being young, in terms of his experience up here, but not surprisingly he got a little bit excited that first day and he tried to throw it harder, instead of throwing smarter and under control. And I thought we saw a little bit of progress in that regard,” said Molitor.
“He needs to establish his fastball, kinda like Hector [Santiago] did last night, and it will make his other pitches work a little bit better.”
Molitor added that Mejia gets upset when hitters battle with him, fouling off pitches he thinks should put them away.
“So far there has been a little bit of frustration at times when guys have had good at-bats against him, and then he can’t put guys away and they foul pitches off, and then he keeps trying harder and harder,” he said.
“Those things are gonna happen, you have really good hitters up here, but just kinda trust what you can do.”
Here is the Twins lineup for today:
Joe Mauer and Jason Castro will rest against Boyd, a lefty, following a night game yesterday.
“Castro, it’s good for him to get a day after a night game last night, and same for Joe with the lefty on the mound,” said Molitor.
“We’ll give the outfielders a shot. Got Esco in there, and we’ll see how Miggy does over there at first. He’s been playing really good at third, I really don’t want to move him. I don’t have a big heart or desire to do that, but that’s just the way it worked out today.”
The Tigers announced their lineup late because they were waiting on Miguel Cabrera to see if he can play.
Left side of the infield has been good so far
Molitor wanted to make it clear that he is happy with how Sano and Polanco have played at third and short, respectively, this season. The duo seemed suspect defensively at the beginning of the year, but Molitor has been pleased with their play so far.
“I’ve been pleased, he said. “There hasn’t been many mistakes.”
The biggest concern with Polanco was with his arm. He’s an athletic player who had done well at the plate, but he projected to be a second baseman because of the shorter throw to first.
“Polanco has done a really nice job of improving his ability to use his athleticism and make some athletic plays,” said Molitor.
“He’s learned how to make that play on the run a little bit better towards the 5-hole, just trusting that he might have to bounce it once in a while, but not overthink those plays. He’s made some really nice spin plays up the middle.”
As for Sano, his size (he’s listed at 6’4″, 260 lbs.) appeared to be a limiting factor at third. But Molitor says he hasn’t seen that yet this season.
“Miggy’s moving around pretty good. He looks like he’s engaged. He’s really simplified his ready position, which has helped him some with the range part. And we all know he can make the body control play,” said Molitor.
“I don’t have a lot of apprehension when you see those swinging bunts. If he’s got a chance, he’s gonna make the play more times than not. Overall, those guys have had a good start defensively.”
Asked for clarity how Sano simplified his ready position, Molitor said: “For a while there it seemed like his timing of the ball in the zone was a little bit off. He took multiple steps and trying to hop into it. The consistency was more about just trying to simplify so he didn’t have as much to do to make sure that he was where he wanted to be, kinda like returning serve when you’re at third base.
“If you’re off a little bit, or a little bit late, it’s gonna affect your reaction off the ball.”
Pressly confidence back
Considered one of Minnesota’s better relievers — or at least the Twins hardest-throwing reliever currently on the roster — Ryan Pressly gave up five earned runs, including two homers, three of his last four outings.
But against Detroit last night he kept the Tigers off the board.
“He’s been throwing okay. He overthinks a lot out there — how to use his fastball and when to get chase pitches,” said Molitor.
“He attacked a lot last night. I thought it was a good confidence booster for him. You kinda needed one of those after a couple of those outings that he’s had. So hopefully it gets him going.”
I’ll be live on 93X’s Facebook page tonight breaking down the Wild game, so Brandon is doing postgame. Be sure to follow him (@Brandon_Warne).
