MINNEAPOLIS -- As if first-year manager Rocco Baldelli weren't juggling enough early in the season with the Twins' generous distribution of off-days and the challenges of keeping five starting pitchers stretched out in a schedule built for three or four, he also has to be mindful of his unique catching situation as he sets his lineups every day.
The Twins have three Major League-caliber catchers on their Opening Day roster -- Jason Castro, Mitch Garver and Willians Astudillo -- and Baldelli said that he and his staff have to plan ahead and put additional thought into keeping all of their backstops fresh, as opposed to a more traditional situation where a starter would get two-thirds of the schedule and a backup catcher getting the remainder.
"One thing with three catchers: We have to find ways and get creative to get these guys in there," Baldelli said. "I think especially with our schedule the way it is with all the off-days, if you don't force the action and get these guys going, get them in there and into the flow, it's easy to let it not happen."
Castro caught Jose Berrios on Opening Day and Garver was behind the plate for Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Indians, going 0-for-3. Baldelli said that "everything you can probably imagine," including matchups, offensive and defensive considerations, and both teams' pitchers, factor into the calculation on any given day.
"I think those lineups and matchups kind of, they make themselves work and they kind of fill themselves out sometimes," Baldelli said. "But we’ll put a little work into it and think about it."
And yes, Astudillo will also fit into that rotation.
Though Astudillo spent significant time at third base and some time at second base and left field during Spring Training, Baldelli asserted that he considers the versatile Astudillo to be a catcher first and has been impressed by his continued progression behind the plate, despite not being solely focused on those skills throughout spring and his career.
"You could say that it's a pretty impressive thing, the fact that he hasn't caught as much as other catchers have caught and he's still a very good catcher," Baldelli said. "He does a good job. That's not quite normal.
"He's actually one of these guys that shows a lot of promise with his receiving, with his throwing and even some improvement with his blocking where he hasn't spent that time behind the plate, but he already has these skills -- it's pretty impressive."
Twins don "La Tortuga" shirts for batting practice
Several Twins players, including Jake Cave and Tyler Austin, took batting practice in lime green "La Tortuga" T-shirts on Saturday, a reference to Astudillo's good-natured nickname. The shirts were distributed among the Twins in the morning after they were delivered to the clubhouse.