Greetings from Fort Myers, where the Twins have begun their second day of camp.
Craig Breslow is one of the pitchers scheduled to throw in the bullpen today, so the Twins will get their first look at his new arm angle that has helped increase the, "spin rate," on his breaking ball. Breslow, signed as a non-roster invite just over a week ago, is battling Taylor Rogers, Buddy Boshers and Ryan O'Rourke to be a lefty out of the bullpen. I've got to believe that the Twins would prefer at least two left-handed relievers in the bullpen (not counting Glen Perkins until he can pitch in games).
The sleeper of this group, to me, is O'Rourke. If the Twins can afford to keep a left-handed one out guy (LOOGY), O'Rourke held lefty hitters to an .077 batting average last season. But if the Twins have another season in which the starters falter and the bullpen has to log a lot of innings, someone like O'Rourke would end up facing a few right handed hitters, and the advantage swings. Greatly.
Perkins, by the way, is on the schedule to throw today, but he's expected to just work on long toss drills as he continues his comeback from shoulder surgery.
Torii Hunter has arrived at camp and is on the back fields, kibitzing with the position players who have arrived early at camp.
Eduardo Escobar, Danny Santana, Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas all reported to camp this morning.
Will check back later with updates. Today will be a somewhat short day, as the Twins will head over to a local golf course this afternoon to take part in their annual charity tournament.
