Thoughts from the weekend

Must ... resist ... the impluse to read too much into the Detroit series. Splitting with the Tigers isn't a disaster, but it wasn't what I expected either. It was a series in mid May, or perhaps a bit earlier than mid May, with a doubleheader, and Rocco Baldelli gave the reserves a good bit of run.

A few bullet points:

* The Twins got less-than-dominant starts Saturday and Sunday. This was not really a surprise from Michael Pineda and Kohl Stewart, even if the Tigers have a notably light-hitting lineup; it says a lot about how quickly Martin Perez has risen in my esteem that his outing surprised me.

*Deeper thoughts on Pineda and Stewart in the Monday print column.

* A good bit of roster shuffling this weekend connected to the makeup doubleheader Saturday. Stewart came up to start Saturday' second game; officially he was taking the place of Perez, who was on paternity leave for the birth of his son. Tyler Duffey was the 26th man for the doubleheader and pitched a strong inning to wrap up that one.

And La Tortuga is back from the injured list. The Twins cut back to 12 pitchers after Saturday and reactivated Willians Astudillo, who caught and led off Sunday. This makes him the fourth catcher to hit leadoff in Twins history -- John Roseboro, Butch Wynegar in the past and Mitch Garver and Astudillo this year.

* I had expected that, if the Twins were to cut back to 12 pitchers, that Mike Morin would be the loser, but it was Fernando Romero instead. Baldelli,  on the radio pregame show Sunday, had an intriguing reason for that: Romero isn't getting enough regular work in the major league bullpen to develop. They want him to pitch two days in a row, to finish an inning and go back out ("up-and-down"), and those opportunities aren't there with the Twins. Or they're there, but it's the Big Four being asked to do them.

* One of those Big Four, Trevor Hildenberger, is definitely in a pitching slump, surrendering a pair of runs both Saturday and Sunday. Again, must resist the urge to overreact -- but Hildenberger has shown a tendency for bad streaks in the past.

* Miguel Sano's rehab tour of the minor leagues is near its end. He's at Triple A now and hammered a couple of doubles over the weekend (and struck out a few times too.) Meanwhile, Nelson Cruz came out of Sunday's game with a sore wrist, which is to be examined today. If Cruz has to sit a while, that probably gets Sano back on the roster without bouncing either Jake Cave or Ehire Adrianza, and opens up a lineup slot as well.

Oh no, Sano (Part whatever)

So ... the big news Tuesday about the Twins was that Miguel Sano's cut heel is going to keep him out into May.

The Twins rather emphatically avoid blaming Sano, who, as they see it, spent the winter doing what they wanted him doing. He lost weight, he played winter ball -- and then he got hurt in the celebration, and the wound got infected. He reported to spring training with the infection, and the wound wasn't healing as it should, so now comes a more aggressive treatment.

I'm not a medical professional, so I am in no position to second-guess what was done (or not done) when Sano reported to Fort Myers. You probably aren't either, and if you are, you probably didn't examine his specific injury. But there is an irrational contigent of media and fandom that, having lost its favorite target in Joe Mauer, will now almost certainly turn its scorn on Sano. Blaming the athlete for the injury is a longstanding if unattractive tradition.

As a practical matter, this probably means, at least for the first five or six weeks of the season, a lot more time at third base for Marwin Gonzalez than the Twins expected or intended. Which, in turn, means less time for him at any of the other positions.

Another possibility is a steady dose of Willians Astudillo at third, with Gonzalez rotating among positions as originally envisioned.

I don't think this is a case where the injury creates an opening for  La Tortuga (Astudillo) to make the opening roster. I think this creates an opportunity for him to get significant playing time. The guys whose chances of coming north out of camp have improved are Ehire Adrianza and Jake Cave.

Where they stand: Third base

Presumed regular: Miguel Sano

Others on 40: Ehire Adrianza, Ronald Torreyes

Notable nonroster: None

The Twins are all in on Sano at third base this year.

In 2018 and 2017, they had Eduardo Escobar as Plan B, and El De La Pica was a pretty good Plan B. It is quite possible that Escobar is a better player than Sano. In 2016 and 2015, they had Trevor Plouffe as Plan A at third base, which was part of the failed attempt to make Sano an outfielder. And overlapping with those two was Eduardo Nunez.

When Sano went down with injuries, there was always somebody to plug in at third base.

There is no obvious Plan B at third base now. Escobar is with the Diamondbacks. Plouffe is 32 and scrounging for a spring training invite after just 12 major-league at-bats in 2018. And the Twins have Adrianza and Torreyes, shortstops with no power, at the top of their infield reserve ladder.

The Twins say they have been monitoring Sano's offseason more diligently this year, that he is checking in at their Dominican complex regularly. New manager Rocco Baldelli went to the island a couple weeks ago to visit Sano, and a photo of the two on social media suggests that Sano is trimmer than we've seen him in the past.

All that is well and good, but we've see three full seasons since Sano was called up in midseason 2015, and the big man has yet to stay off the disabled list. This year, more than ever, the Twins need that to change.

Oh no, Sano

Miguel Sano was apparently detained and released by police in the his native Dominican Republic after a hit-and-run early Sunday morning in which a policeman's leg was broken.

The Twins issued a statement saying they are "aware" of the situation and trying to learn more about it.

There's a lot of unknowns about this incident. But I'm probably not getting too far over my skis to say the Twins expect better from the troubled slugger. His midsummer exile to the minors was supposed to be as much, or more, about revamping his lifestyle and improving his professionalism as getting his swing back.

Sano's ugly slide

"When you start to slide, slide. He who changes his mind may have to change a good leg for a bad one."

That is the fifth of Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy's "10 commandments," and it came to mind Tuesday night when Miguel Sano slid late and hard into second base and wound up riding a cart off the field.

The inelegant slide also involved bumping bodies, head and elbow with Houston shortstop Carlos Correa, who isn't as bulky as Sano but is considerably larger than the stereotypical middle infielder. 

Yet the report later in the game was largely positive. A bruised left shin, no fracture, status day-to-day. Considering that the bruised shin is the one that had a rod implanted last offseason because of a slow-healing stress reaction, I suspect the Twins will be cautious about playing Sano for a day or so.

He got away with one.

The road forward

Every other Thursday I do a half-hour segment on KMSU, a public radio station affiliated with Minnesota State University, Mankato, talking Twins with station director Jim Gullickson and, most weeks, Mark Halverson, a local attorney, KMSU host and Twins ticket holder.

I was, I fear, more incoherent than usual during Thursday's segment, and never more so than when Gully asked if we were going to see a bunch of "fresh faces" the rest of the season. So I'll try again, this time with the ability to rewrite a sentence before exposing it to the public.

It depends on what is a "fresh" face. The Twins -- and pretty much every other team -- have a lot of roster churn, particularly among the pitchers. Is Gabriel Moya -- who had two brief stints in the Twins bullpen earlier and was recalled to take Zach Duke's spot in the bullpen -- a fresh face? Is veteran infielder Logan Forsythe, who has as of this morning one at-bat in a Twins uniform, a fresh face?

In essense, the Twins have replaced:

• Eduardo Escobar at third base with Miguel Sano
• Brian Dozier at second base with Forsythe
• Lance Lynn in the starting rotation with Aldaberto Mejia
• Zach Duke as a lefty reliever with Moya
• Ryan Pressly as a righty reliever with Trevor May

Forsythe is merely a placeholder. I'll probably write something about the Twins' second base options soon -- it may even be the Monday print column next week -- but I'm not giving anything away here by dismissing Forsythe as a contender for the job in 2019.

May is rehabbing from Tommy John; these next two months give the Twins a chance to evaluate his future role if any. Mejia is out of options next season; he is auditioning for a role in the back of the 2019 rotation. Moya -- the hope is that he can be a younger version of Duke, a reliable LOOGY out of the bullpen.

And of course, Sano. He's supposed to be a franchise cornerstone. He has been anything but in 2018. The Twins desperately need to get him right. Sano is not a fresh face, but the Twins hope these final two months are a fresh start.

The Sano demotion

Eleven months ago Miguel Sano was an All Star. Today's he's not only back in the minors but in A ball.

Sending the slugger to Fort Myers rather than Triple-A Rochester tells us that this is more than a "break the slump" demotion. This is intended to be a reboot of the slugger's career. We may not see the big man back in Minnesota for months, perhaps even until 2019.

Quoting Derek Falvey (via the Pioneer Press' Brian Murphy):

“We’re not going to follow the traditional view, just go get at-bats at Triple-A. We wanted to take a step back and blank-canvas this a bit and say, ‘What do we think the best next steps are for him?’ It’s a holistic plan. We felt like that was the most supportive environment for what we’re trying to achieve.”

I interpert that as Sano can't be a star if he's not in the lineup, and he can't stay in the lineup if he's 290 pounds.

And the solution is not as simple as "DH him" or "move him to first." Dmitri Young years ago was a first-rate hitter who ate his way out of the league and into a health crisis. I have no clue as to Sano's off-field habits, but it seems likely that the Twins want to drastically rework his entire approach to his career. They want him to be great, and he's not on that trajectory today.

Sano, at least for public consumption, appears to be embracing this: 

"I'm not mad. I'm happy because I'm struggling. You know, this is an opportunity they gave me. I know they love me here and everything. … Everybody here trying to help me. It's a chance to go there and work, and I'll come back soon."

Say this for Falvey and the Twins: This is not a half-measure. This is a drastic move that undercuts Sano's trade value. Falvine are committed to making Sano the best he can be. Now we'll see how committed Sano is to the same project.

The return of Miguel Sano

The Twins celebrated their off day Thursday by reinstating Miguel Sano from the disabled list and optioning Jake Cave back to Rochester.

I would expect to see a lot of Sano as the designated hitter, at least initially, and perhaps as long as Joe Mauer is sidelined.  Logan Morrison has first base while Mauer waits for his concussion syndrome to subside, and the Twins would rather play Eduardo Escobar at third base than at shortstop.

Sano had a productive five-game rehab stint at Triple A, and perhaps his return after a 24-game absence will give this lineup a jolt. It needs one.

No suspension for Sano

MLB issued its rulings in a pair of off-field behavior investigations Friday. Steven Wright, Boston pitcher, got a 15-game suspension. Miguel Sano, Twins third baseman/slugger, gets nothing.

I wouldn't say that MLB cleared Sano. The accusation by a freelance photographer was made years after the fact, there was no police report, and, says the MLB statement, witness accounts were "inconsistent and conflicting."

Not that my opinion matters much on this, but I believe the woman, in part because the reaction to her going public from some of Sano's current and former teammates suggested that they weren't surprised and in part because of other things I've heard and read of his behavior. I expected a suspension for him, and while I understand the rationale for doing nothing, I'm a bit disappointed that there isn't.

But Sano would do well to watch his step from now on. He's not likely to get the benefit of the doubt in the future.

Spring training trip: Final day

Lance Lynn had his introductory press conference in the morning. In the afternoon, he threw three hitless innings inhis first exhibition start. He was clearly laboring in that third and final inning.

As advertised, Lynn threw mostly fast balls, and the stadium gun had him at 93 and 94 mph repeatedly.

That was the good news on the pitching front in the exhibition The bad news: Fernando Rodney, Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers -- three key relievers -- all gave up runs, with Hildenberger and Rogers each surrendering homers.

For what it's worth:

Molitor said he's "not overly concerned" about rocky springs for Hildy and Rogers.

— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) March 13, 2018

---

Miguel Sano played third and made two plays that required him to move with no problem. I'm inclined to regard the concern about his mobility following his stress reaction surgery as overblown.

---

We're headed home this morning. The locals grumbled the entire time we were here about how cold it was. It was still pretty warn for March to a Minnesotan.

Spring training trip: Day Two

After Saturday's rain out, my wife surprised me by suggesting that we go to Port Charlotte on Sunday to see the Twins play the Rays there. Which we did.

Miguel Sano played third base, drove in a pair of runs with a hard-hit single in a five-run inning, and had little opportunity to field his position. I thought he might have reacted a tad slowly on one base hit to his left, but I doubt the ball was playable from where he was stationed.

Much has been made this spring of Sano's weight and conditioning. Looking at him in his uniform, he doesn't look rotund. He is just a big man. I haven't had an opportunity to gauge his mobility, but in an earlier game he made one of his specialty charge-a-slow-roller plays with no issue.

He has yet to play two days in a row, but that's probably not unique at this stage of training camp. I'm not sure Brian Dozier has either, and no middle-aged (or older) paunchy columnist is yelling about him.

I do expect MLB to suspend Sano over the sexual assault allegation that emerged this winter. I won't hazard a guess as to how long that suspension might be. I see no reason to believe that he'll be on the disabled list when opening day arrives later this month.

---

One notable difference between the Twins camp and the Rays camp: Fans are free to wander over to the minor league fields at the Twins Fort Myers complex. The back fields at the Rays camp were closed off Sunday.

Charlotte Sports Park itself is a nice facility. In my (probably biased) opinion it's not quite as good as Hammond Stadium, but it's rather comperable. Both stadiums are home to teams in the High-A Florida State League; in Port Charlotte it's the Charlotte Stone Crabs, affilate of the Rays.

One advantage to the Charlotte park is the team store, which has caps and shirts for the minor league tenant during spring training. Hammond Stadium's store is, at least during spring training, devoted to Twins items, nothing of the Miracle.

Contemplating Miguel Sano

The big topic around the Twins as the opening of camp nears is the starting rotation. But Miguel Sano casts a big shadow over the coming season, and that deserves more acknowledgement that it gets.

Sano is coming off surgery to put a rod in his shin after the stress reaction that sidelined him for much of September. He is being investigated by MLB after a creditable allegation of sexual assault and seems likely to get some sort of suspension. 

And this weekend, for the first time I know of, somebody in the Twins hierarchy specifically and on the record put his work ethic on question. That came from Paul Molitor this weekend in this illuminating sit-down with the Pioneer Press' Brian Murphy.

We've gotten hints of this before, notably from Jim Souhan's controversial column last September that implicitly blamed fouling a ball off Sano's shin on Sano's weight. It contained one attribution that was so vaguely worked that it could have been a ticket taker. (I typically avoid Souhan's "work," but that one raised such a fuss that I read it, then dismissed it as his usual slop.) Murphy's piece is, in contrast, sourced, with direct quotes, and thus far more creditable. It's far more meaningful that Molitor had doubts about Sano's work ethic than that Souhan or Patrick Reusse do.

Questions of journalistic competence or intent aside, the question for Molitor and the organization is: What do they do with Sano? He's clearly a talent capable of being a force in the lineup, and two-and-half years into his career, the Twins still are waiting for a full season of his best. Molitor concedes in Murphy's piece he's had mixed results getting to him. That he voices those concerns for print may signal a turning point.

A bit more on Sano

I don't wish -- or intend -- to dwell on the Miguel Sano situation. But I thought I'd post links to these two more in-depth pieces on it, in large part because they contain more insight than I do on Sano's behavior with women.

This is Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports:

Getting in trouble for (the pursuit of women) “was only a matter of time,” said one person familiar with Sano, whom he called “a ticking time bomb.”

OK, unnamed sources. As a professional journalist, this makes me a bit uncomfortable. (In contrast, the Washington Post's expose on Roy Moore used named sources, on-the record quotes and collaborating details.) But Passan's a pro himself, and I think highly of his work.

Brandon Warne in the ZoneCoverage site passes on an illuminating story from a fan about Sano's time with the Chattanooga Lookouts. According to him, the team's female ushers were kept away from the Lookouts dugout area specifically because Sano badgered them so much. As Warne says, this ancedote doesn't address the Bissen claims directly, but in my mind it adds to the credibility of her statement.

Both pieces are worth your time.

The Sano allegations

Some weeks ago somebody -- I don'r remember specifically who -- observed that when the #Metoo movement hit sports it was going to get ugly.

This made intuitive sense. Big-time pro sports is a male-dominated field with a well-documented history of contempt for the women who venture into its periphery and an atmosphere of male promiscuity. Also involved: a tradition of protecting the "talent."

Well, #Metoo hit the Twins Thursday when a Twin Cities photographer, Betsy Bissen, tweeted out a her account of an unpleasant 2015 encounter with Miguel Sano, who she says attempted to drag her into a restroom and repeatedly tried to kiss her. The tribal trolls reacted as one might expect, and Bissen has now protected her Twitter account, so I can't link to the statement.

Sano, in a statement that was probably crafted by his agent, denied Bissen's story. If I have to choose between the two, I'll believe Bissen, partly because some of her friends in Twins Twitter say she told them of the incident at the time, and partly because of jock culture. It's certainly not inconceivable.

This poses an intriguing challenge to the Twins front office. It's easy enough for a team to dump a marginal player who does something stupid/inappropriate/criminal. Sano is a rare talent, and there are plenty of other teams that would love to take him onto their roster. (Note how eager the Yankees and Cubs have been to have Aroldis Chapman around.)

I have for some time sensed a toxic Red Sox-like vibe around the Sano-Twins relationship. The front office talks up not only his talent but his dedication, and the metro columnists undercut the latter, proportedly on the basis of what they're being told by the field staff. There are a lot of fans convinced that Sano is lazy because Pat Reusse and Jim Souhan told them so.

As I understand it, the question of suspension for Sano isn't up to the Twins but to the commissioner's office. But the question of whether to keep Sano around, that is up to the Twins. There had been chatter of a Sano-for-a-pitcher trade (specifically Chris Archer); this won't tamp down that kind of talk.

Notes, quotes and comment (into the offseason)

The Twins announced Thursday that Miguel Sano, still troubled by a stress reaction in his left shin, will have surgery on Nov. 13 to install a titanium rod. This is expected to solve the leg problem but complicate his workout/weight reduction plans.

Also noted in the above linked story from the Pioneer Press: Outfielder Zack Granite has already had hernia surgery.

---

I noted earlier reports that Joe Vavra and Rick Anderson would rejoin Ron Gardenhire in Detroit. A third standby of Gardy's old Twins staff will be there too, but not Scott Ullger, as I'd half-jested. Steve Liddle, dropped by the Twins after the 2012 season, will be the Tigers bench coach.

Vavra's position was announced by the Tigers as "quality assurance coach," a vague and meaningless term to me. Presumably Gardenhire, Vavra and the Tigers front office know what he's supposed to do, and if so my ignorance is perfectly acceptable.

But there's a pretty good chance there will be little "quality" to assure from the rebuilding Tigers in 2018.

First base with and without Mauer

A year ago I figured that Joe Mauer would retire at the expiration of his contract after the 2018 season. His 2017 resurgence may change that equation, but he'll be 35, his daughters will be about ready to start school, he'll have collected more than $200 million in salary over the course of his career -- yeah, he might well decide to hang 'em up.

Then what for the Twins at first base? For that matter, who's behind Mauer for 2018?

Mauer played more than 72 percent of the team's innings at first base. Kennys Vargas picked the majority of the rest. But Vargas

• hasn't been very productive as a major league hitter
• is finally out of options
• isn't a lock to remain on the 40-man roster this winter and
• is seriously contemplating playing in Japan or Korea

Byungho Park might be seriously contemplating a return to his native Korea. He slugged a mere .415 in Triple A, and if Park ain't hitting for power, he ain't doing much. His walk to strikeout ratio with Rochester (28 bases on balls, 130 strikeouts) was ugly. He has one more year on his Twins contract, he's not on the 40-man roster and this front office has no investment in him.

In my opinion, it's likely that neither Vargas nor Park is with the Twins next year.

Many assume that Miguel Sano is destined for first base once that position is vacated (he played 65 inning there this year). My guess is that if he's too big to stay healthy at third base, he's not real likely to stay healthy at first either. The Twins have long ought to avoid a full-time DH, but that is, in my view, his more likely destination if third base doesn't work for him.

Sano is right-right -- bats right, throws right. John Manuel, for this week still the editor of Baseball America and after that a member of the Twins pro scouting department, had a recent piece about the scouting bias against right-right first basemen. (Byungho Park certainly isn't a data point to discredit the bias.)

The hitter in the system who most interests me as a post-Mauer first base candidate is also right-right: Brent Rooker, who raked at two levels in the farm system after the Twins plucked him with a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds.

He's right-right, he's probably not athletic enough for the outfield and as a college senior draft he was older than his competition at both Rookie and High A ball. These are significant drawbacks. He also hit 11 homers in 40 games in the Florida State League with Hammond Stadium as his home park, and that doesn't happen very often.

Presumably Rooker will advance to Double-A in the spring. Then we might get a better read on his future.

Sano or Sa-yes? Some wild card roster speculation

The second half of the Monday print column speculated that Miguel Sano would be the designated hitter on Tuesday in Yankee Stadium and doubted that would be the best decision.

That was written before Sunday's game, in which:

• Sano struggled to recognize off-speed pitches and
• was removed with "discomfort" in his left shin.

Sano went 1-for-8 in the Detroit series and never got a ball off the ground.

My current guess is that he will be on the 25-man roster for that game but that Robbie Grossman will start at DH.  The reason to have him on the roster: As a pinch-hit threat against the left-handed gas of Aroldis Chapman. But that's just a guess.

---

Gabriel Moya got the save Sunday with five outs of hitless relief.

Dick Bremer on Sunday cast doubt on the idea that Moya might be on the playoff roster, citing the two homers he's allowed his seven appearances.

I'm not sure he's even eligible, as he wasn't on the 40-man roster Sept. 1 (although he was in the organization). But I do know I'd rather see Moya get the ball as a LOOGY on Tuesday than Buddy Boshers.

---

There's no way Bartolo Colon will be active for the Wild Card game after going 6.1 innings Sunday. I wouldn't have Kyle Gibson, who had a short start Friday, active either, although he's a plausible reliever on three days rest. I'd just save him for the ALDS Game One start. If that start doesn't happen, so be it. I doubt the WC game will be determined by Gibson's availablity.

The Twins gave Jose Berrios a bullpen test drive Friday, and there's reasonable speculation that Paul Molitor's bullpen blueprint for that one-and-done game is: Six innings from Ervin Santana, one from Berrios, one from Trevor Hildenberger and one from Matt Belisle. That plan, if it is the plan, leaves Taylor Rogers available for LOOGY duties.

Miguel Sano, Eduardo Escobar, Robbie Grossman and the postseason roster

One thing we learned from Torii Hunter's occasional forays into the broadcast booth is that he calls Eduardo Escobar "Mighty Mouse."

Escobar helped save the day Friday night with a home run. He helped save the season with 21 homers, which is power output nobody expected when the Twins got him from the White Sox in exchange for Francisco Liriano in 2012.

Fifteen of those 21 homers have come while playing third base, which is supposed to be the property of Miguel Sano. (Three have come when at short, and three as the designated hitter.) Sano has had two lengthy stints on the disabled list, and Escobar has gotten the heavy majority of his playing time at third as a result.

Sano has hit 28 homers, 23 of them at third. So the Twins have gotten 38 homers from their third basemen, which basically sounds like Sano got a full season in there.

But only in terms of the power. Sano draws walks and Escobar does not. While their batting averages are similar, the Dominican has a far superior OBP to the Venezulean. Give credit to Escobar for producing in Sano's absence, but know that Sano is the more productive hitter.

Sano returned to the active roster Friday and got an at-bat late in the game, grounding out meekly to the pitcher. He's expected to get at least one start as the designated hitter in these final two games as he tries to wrangle his way onto the playoff roster.

If he does, he's not going to step back in at third base; there's no indication that his leg is ready to play the field. If Sano is in the lineup, it will be as the designated hitter.

So Escobar's status as the third baseman seems secure as the wild card game approaches. The guy who might lose out is Robbie Grossman, who has himself been strictly a DH since returning from his thumb injury.

Grossman has nine homers on the season with a slash line of .248/.364/.383. He's sort of the reverse image of Escobar -- big on walks, light on the power. (His September slugging percentage, .484, has been sharply higher.) Fourteen Twin have more than 100 plate appearances; only Joe Mauer has a better on-base percentage than Grossman.

Don't underestimate the importance of the ability to reach base. Escobar's big flies are valuable and startling. Grossman's walks are mundane -- but just as valuable.

But the choice really isn't between Grossman and Escobar. It's between Grossman and Sano, and the real question is, is Sano ready to hit against playoff caliber pitching?

A secondary question might be: Is Grossman able to play outfield? He hasn't in weeks. And if he can't, is there room on the playoff roster for two bat-only "position players"?

The Twins have a few days to draw their conclusions and make their decisions. At thp point, I'm skeptical of Sano's return.

Notes, quotes and comment

Buddy Boshers didn't last long on that callup. He pitched Sunday -- long enough that he wouldn't be available for a day or two -- and was shipped back down Monday. Nick Tepesch was called up, and Ryan O'Rourke was put on the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster.

Tepesch was apparently nearing his opt-out date. He was putting up better numbers than Boshers in Rochester, and he's a better fit for the long man role anyway.

O'Rourke is making little progress with his arm injury and is to get a second opinion today from the Rangers team doctor. The lefty hasn't pitched off a mound in six weeks.

---

MLB issued a one-game suspension for Miguel Sano.for his role in Saturday's fracus. He's appealing the suspension, so that's in abbyance.

What frequently happens in these cases is that the Twins and Sano will pick a game that they plan to rest him in anyway and drop the appeal. Reading between the lines, that may not happen this time. They may think they have a legitimate chance to win that appeal.

I do find it amusing that the Twins TV crew seems absolutely intent on ignoring the underlying trigger of the sequence of events: Justin Haley hitting JaCoby Jones in the face with a pitch. Matt Boyd at least kept his pitch below the shoulders.

---

Chih-Wei Hu, the Taiwanese righty the Twins signed, then traded as a Class A pitcher to Tampa Bay for Kevin Jepsen in 2015, made his major league debut Monday. I wish him well; I said at the time of the trade that I was lukewarm on it, having already made an emotional investment in Hu after seeing his Low A debut in 2014 while recognizing the Twins need for immediate bullpen help at the time. It was, and remains, a justifiable trade.

The Twins got what they were after in 2015 from Jepsen; he almost got them into the playoffs. He crashed and burned the next year, of course, and he doesn't appear to be in organized ball this year.

Miguel Sano, 1B, and other bench thoughts

Paul Molitor has deployed four different lineups in four games. Last night's lineup not only got Chris Gimenez his first start behind the plate, but featured Miguel Sano at first base, a position he is not believed to have worked at even once during spring training.

Molitor himself donned a glove during the pregame warmups to supervise Sano taking grounders and throws at first.

The expectation in March had been that either Byung Ho Park or Kennys Vargas would be on the roster as the DH and backup first baseman. When they were both sent to Triple A Rochester, my expectation was that Max Kepler would be the first baseman when Joe Mauer sat.

There are advantages to shifting Sano to first rather than Kepler. The main one is that it gives Eduardo Escobar a chance to play (at third). Of the three reserves (Escobar, Gimenez and Danny Santana), Escobar is pretty clearly the one who with the best chance at being a productive regular.

Kepler -- a better outfielder than Santana or primary designated hitter Robbie Grossman -- made a nice catch in right Friday night. Sano doubled home the run that put the Twins up for good and didn't obviously mess up any plays at first. Escobar walked, singled and scored a run. Even Gimenez doubled.

So Friday's lineup shuffle worked marvelously for Molitor, and the Twins are 4-0.