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The Twins got an important 5-4 victory Thursday night against the Indians to increase their American League Central lead to 10½ games after losing the first two games of the series in Cleveland.
And while manager Rocco Baldelli decided to leave Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Nelson Cruz out of the starting lineup, he did keep Max Kepler in, despite Kepler being 0-for-21 in his past five games. Kepler rewarded Baldelli's faith going 4-for-4 with three homers, the first Twins hitter this season to belt three home runs in a game. It was Kepler's second three-homer game of his career, both coming against the Indians.
It once again showed the benefit of having so much depth on the roster.
One of the new players who has really been a big part of that depth, and a huge part of the club's success this year, is C.J. Cron.
It's hard to understand why the Tampa Bay Rays decided to designate Cron for assignment, allowing the Twins to claim him off waivers last November.
The 29-year-old slugger hit .253 in 140 games with them last season, leading the team with 30 home runs and 74 RBI. On top of that, he wasn't due to be a free agent until 2020 and was under team control in arbitration until then.
"It's part of the business, I guess," Cron said. "Obviously you never want to get released; it doesn't feel very good. But at the same time, I knew I had a good opportunity for me here in Minnesota, and it couldn't have worked out any better."
The Rays' loss has been the Twins' gain.
The team knew they were getting a righthanded power hitter, but no one in the front office could have guessed he would be playing this well through 55 games, hitting .270 with 13 homers, 12 doubles, 39 RBI and 29 runs scored.
Cron agreed to a one-year deal for $4.8 million this season. And he said that he would definitely be interested in staying with the Twins past 2020.
"Of course," Cron said. "It's a fun place to be, we're playing well and it has been good."
Family business
Cron's father, Chris, played 12 games in the big leagues, six with the Angels in 1991 and six with the White Sox in 1992. After those stints, he has worked as a coach his entire life.
Cron said his father got him into baseball. C.J.'s younger brother, Kevin, recently was called up by the Diamondbacks and the 26-year-old has hit .250 in his first 11 games.
"I kind of grew up in the game," C.J. said. "[My father] played for the Angels and the White Sox for about 80 days in total, so not too much, but he played about 12 years in Triple-A. He has been around and he is a good coach now. He has been a coach ever since, and I learned a lot from him. He taught me a lot about everything: hitting, defense, mental aspect of the game. He did a lot for me."
C.J. was drafted 17th overall in the 2011 MLB draft by the Angels. That's when he started playing first base.
"I was a catcher all the way through college, and when I was drafted by the Angels, they moved me to first," he recalled. "I've always been at first base through my whole professional career."
When he made his major league debut in 2014, after dominating in the minors, he hit .256 with 11 homers and 37 RBI in 79 games.
He said Angels stars Mike Trout and Albert Pujols were great examples for him early in his career.
"I had really good coaches and great teammates when I was with the Angels for four years," he said. "Trout, Albert, they helped me when I was a rookie tremendously. [Former Twin] Paul Sorrento, the hitting coach there when I was there, helped me a bunch."
Saunders stays busy
Ryan Saunders and his wife, Hayley, announced the great news that Lucas Philip Saunders was born Thursday morning.
It has been a busy few weeks for Saunders, after being named Timberwolves coach on May 20, and it only figures to get busier now.
Saunders has said he has no doubt the team will get a quality player with the No. 11 pick in the NBA draft on June 20. The Wolves will need that player to contribute, as rookie guard Josh Okogie did this season, because of salary-cap restrictions.
"Gersson [Rosas, the Wolves' new president of basketball operations] and his staff, they have a great process to how they do things, just in terms of how diligently they go through all types of options to be creative as well as really get to the core of what we need in the draft," Saunders said. "We spent time at the combine and we'll continue to meet and bring more prospects in as June rolls along."
One player Saunders has an extremely close relationship with is guard/forward Andrew Wiggins.
After Saunders took over for the fired Tom Thibodeau on Jan. 6, Wiggins scored 18.9 points per game on 42% shooting (33.5% on three-pointers) to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
"I expect Andrew to have a good season, I really do," Saunders said. "That's not just me saying it because I feel very strongly about Andrew both as a person and what I think he's capable of doing as a player. His commitment — he has been here for the month of May, and that has not happened in a while. His level of commitment is great. He has been lifting, he has been in the gym. I look forward to spending more time with him in the next couple of weeks."
Jottings
• P.J. Fleck and the Gophers football recruiting staff is doing a great job in early recruiting for 2021 with three commitments: dual-sport athlete Athan Kaliakmanis and wide receiver Dino Kaliakmanis, brothers from Antioch (Ill.) Community, and athlete Sam Jackson of Naperville (Ill.) Central. 247sports.com has the group rated as the No. 4 recruiting class in the country for 2021, behind Miami, Michigan and Ohio State.
• As the Wolves begin announcing Saunders' assistants after the hiring of associate head coach David Vanterpool on Thursday, one name to keep an eye on is former Wolves player and coach Sam Mitchell. He has left his job as a college assistant under Penny Hardaway at Memphis. Mitchell has a great relationship with Saunders and a number of his former players, such as Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.
• One player the Vikings loved through OTAs and into training camp is second-year defensive tackle Hercules Mata'afa. Pro Football Focus recently broke down his film and wrote that, "Mata'afa thrived from the defensive interior for Washington State, and if he can maintain his explosiveness as he adds weight, he could very well turn into an undrafted steal for the Vikings."
Sid Hartman can be heard on WCCO AM-830 at 8:40 a.m. Monday and Friday, 2 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. Sunday. • shartman@startribune.com
