Notes: Prospects show pop; Maeda dialing in
MINNEAPOLIS -- By the time live batting practice began at Target Field, few (if any) members of the actual Bomba Squad were around, as Twins manager Rocco Baldelli gave most of his position players a day of rest for physical recovery following a week of Summer Camp.
In their place, several Twins prospects got a chance to take a few hacks on the Major League side. The bombas still didn't slow down.
Top catching prospect Ryan Jeffers smacked a homer to left field off Devin Smeltzer, while depth outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. crushed an upper-deck blast to right-center field off Kenta Maeda as part of Friday's live batting practice, which occurred in place of a more competitive intrasquad game. The Twins expect to resume intrasquad play on Saturday.
Jeffers, the No. 6 prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline, has been working out with the Major League players at Target Field throughout Summer Camp. The Twins also brought over Alex Kirilloff (No. 2 Twins prospect), Trevor Larnach (No. 3) and Gilberto Celestino (No. 15) for the first time, along with Brent Rooker (No. 12) and Travis Blankenhorn (No. 18), who both participated in Thursday's intrasquad game and were back at Target Field on Friday.
"Some days, we'll need versatility," said Baldelli about how the Twins will choose which prospects to bring to camp. "Some days, we'll know we simply need outfielders. Some days, there's going to be at-bats. We have to weigh out a lot of different things. It’s not a specific formula. It's not one thing that we're looking at, but I do think we'll see a lot of different guys."
Shortstop Royce Lewis, the organization's top prospect, did not appear to be in the group that was brought over from the club's alternate training site in St. Paul. Baldelli said that it's also unlikely that too many of the pitching prospects working out in St. Paul will be brought over for looks at Target Field throughout the coming weeks. Right-handers Jhoan Duran (No. 5) and Dakota Chalmers (No. 23) are the most prominent prospects among that group.
Duffey, Stashak make camp debuts; Maeda feels better about mechanics
The final two pieces of the Twins' projected Major League bullpen made their Summer Camp debuts on Friday, when Tyler Duffey and Cody Stashak each threw an inning of live batting practice against a collection of prospects.
Stashak was a late arrival in camp on Tuesday due to the recent birth of his child. Baldelli said Thursday that Duffey had been tracking slightly behind other pitchers as they built him up for the regular season.
Pitching prospect Jorge Alcala (No. 25) also threw an inning of live batting practice, while Zack Littell was stretched out to two innings on Friday. All of that action came after four innings apiece from Maeda and Smeltzer, who expanded their pitch count into the low 60s following three-inning appearances on Sunday. Baldelli praised the action on Smeltzer's pitches, including the left-hander's new slider, while Maeda said that the mechanical issues that arose in his previous outing were less of a factor on Friday.
"Last live BP was the first one in a while that I had actually thrown off a mound against hitters, so I was off, opening up a little too early," Maeda said through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. "I think I was able to make adjustments today. Everything felt good, mechanics-wise."
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Twins still not anticipating any players to sit out
Friday saw two more notable players from around the league electing not to play when both the Giants' Buster Posey and Michael Kopech of the White Sox announced their decisions to sit out the 2020 season. Baldelli noted that he is still unaware of any Twins players who intend to follow suit, though he acknowledged that the situation will likely remain fluid around MLB through the start of the regular season.
"I have not heard that at all, but I’ve talked with guys [who said] that if they were in different situations, potentially, maybe that would change," Baldelli said. "I’ve heard guys say that, and I agree with them. I totally respect every decision that each player is making, and whatever direction they go in, we’re going to support them.
"But in the current circumstances with each of our individual guys, I don’t know if we’re at that point of having a serious discussion of anybody not playing."