Twins Eye Sunday Debut for Donaldson

The Minnesota Twins have now been in spring training for a couple of weeks and they’ve even played a handful of exhibition games. Well, most of the Twins have. Josh Donaldson, who was one of the first hitters to arrive in Fort Myers, is yet to make his 2021 exhibition game debut.

According to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, that will hopefully change on Sunday.

Rocco said he and the #MNTwins are likely targeting Sunday for Josh Donaldson's spring debut.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) March 4, 2021

Josh is coming off of a forgettable 2020 on the baseball field but he’s not the only Twin who can say that. For Donaldson, his health will dictate his contribution. If easing him into spring training is going to help keep him healthy long-term, then I’m all for it.

Who is that on base?

Because of shortened rosters, the Minnesota Twins had to apparently use the smallest, skinniest scout available to pinch run in the 7th inning of Thursday’s televised spring training game. Confirmed by Dan Hayes (The Athletic), his name is Franki Pedulo. He’s a Twins advanced scout who played college baseball at Cornell.

Methinks the #MNTwins snuck advance scout @OchoDulo into the game this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/CPrxN9DAhg

— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) March 4, 2021

Left Field (Alex Kirilloff) Watch

Alex Kirilloff looked sexy as hell swinging that bat today, which is absolutely no surprise to anyone who’s watched him mash in the past. Kirilloff went 2/4 with a double he smoked off the wall. I don’t know why his base hit is on social media and not his double but if I get my hands on the 2B, I’ll add it below.

Should Alex hit over .275 with power during spring training, I don’t know how the Twins will keep him down in AAA, given all the consternation currently surrounding service time and the MLB.

.@AKirilloff19 in the batter's box is a work of art. ????@Twins // #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/MCvCieNAFt

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) March 4, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan