Eddie Rosario getting noticed

Eddie Rosario
turned 21 in
September.

For a guy who wasn't supposed to be in major league camp, Eddie Rosario is collecting a lot of playing time.

And hits. And notice.

On Tuesday, Rosario homered and singled in two trips to the plate. On Monday he had one at-bat and made an out. On Sunday he rapped a pair of singles in two at-bats, and he drew a walk. Saturday he was 1-for 3.

The Twins have played four games so far, and he's played in all of them, going 5-for-8 with a home run and a walk.

He's only in camp to prep for the World Baseball Classic — he was put on the Puerto Rican team after a dominating season the winter league there — and sometime this week he and fellow farmhand J.O. Berrios will leave Fort Myers to join the island's squad. When the Puerto Ricans are done in the tournament, Rosario and Berrios will almost certainly report to minor league camp, not to the major league camp.

But Ron Gardenhire is certainly taking advantage of this period to take a hard look at Rosario. Gardy has to like what he's seen at the plate — Tuesday's homer came off a veteran, if marginal, major league pitcher — and less so in the field.

Rosario is most comfortable in the outfield, but Gardy has deployed him strictly at second base, where the Twins hope to make him at home. Rosario has had a mental flub on a relay play and booted a grounder.

It's no surprise that Rosario is at best a work in progress as an infielder. In that respect, the WBC may not help; Puerto Rico is out to win, not develop players, and Rosario is listed on its roster as an outfielder.

But their outfield is pretty loaded — Carlos Beltran, Alex Rios, Angel Pagan, Andres Torres — and the infield is comparably thin, with only Mike Aviles an established major leaguer. As I look at their roster, I can't help but think that Rosario might get some time at second base after all in the WBC.