Spring Training Kicks Off Tonight | Twins v Red Sox 7p | Boof Opts For Shoulder Surgery

February 25, 2009 By 2 Comments

The Minnesota Twins Spring Training season kicks off tonight as they take on the Boston Red Sox in Ft. Myers at 7pm (Perkins v Wakefield). Carlos Gomez will be sitting out tonight’s game giving some other guys looks, while Joe Crede will make his Twins debut this Friday. Don’t expect to see much of Mauer this month as he is still recovering from kidney surgery, but after taking a light batting practice, he says he feels good and should be ready for opening day.

The Lineups for tonight should look something like:
Boston
P Wakefield
1. Ellesbury CF
2. Pedroia 2B
3. Youkilis 3B
4. Bay LF
5. Wilkerson RF
6. Lowrie SS
7. Bailey DH
8. Bard C
9. Velazquez

Minnesota
P Perkins
1. Span CF
2. Casilla 2B
3. Cuddy RF
4. Morneau 1B
5. Young LF
6. Kubel DH
7. Buscher 3B
8. T.Gardenhire/M.Redmond C
9. Punto SS

In other news, Boof Bonser opted to undergo surgery next week on his ailing shoulder. Expect him to be placed on the 60 day disabled list shortly. This means that the Twins may make a harder push for Juan Cruz, or that Phil Humber’s odds of making the opening day squad drastically increased over the last 48 hours.

Also the Twins Starting Rotation was announced and the opening day starter will be…..Scott Baker!
1. Scott Baker RHP
2. Francisco Liriano LHP
3. Kevin Slowey RHP
4. Glen Perkins LHP
5. Nick Blackburn RHP

It’s interesting that Perkins got the nod for the 4th spot. Maybe they really like following Slowey up with a lefty?

Kick back and enjoy some baseball tonight! Spring is just around the corner!

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Filed Under: Featured Column, MLB, Uncategorized Tagged With: Boof Bonser, boston red sox, minnesota twins, MLB, Spring Training
  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    Let the games begin!

    I’m seeing a lot of the fantasy baseball prognosticators predicting big things for Scott Baker this year. He is 27 and right in the heart of his prime…and adding the great D of Crede (if healthy) certainly won’t hurt. I’d prefer that all of the experts shut up about Baker though. I’ve gotten him on the cheap for two years straight and he has always been really solid. If Liriano is back being his badass self, that’s a pretty underrated but potent 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation.

  • Tyler George

    It’ll be interesting to see where the fantasy world places Scott Baker’s value. I would imagine he will be a popular candidate to be on the “Breakout Player of the Year” or on the “Players to Watch” lists. But I’d argue after 141K’s and a 3.45ERA the fantasy world missed his ‘Breakout Year’. If you look a little further down the Twins rotation you may still be able to find some good value in Kevin Slowey and (depending on how deep your league is) Nick Blackburn.