SARASOTA, Fla. -- Darin Mastroianni is a non-roster outfielder on a Twins team that is deep at that position. He knows he has to take advantage of every opportunity.
So far, he's done just that.
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In the bottom of the seventh inning of Minnesota's 4-1 Grapefruit League loss at Ed Smith Stadium on Thursday night, he fired a strike from right field to cut down Glynn Davis trying to go from first to third on a base hit by Michael Almanzar.
"I got a little help from the grass. It was a little wet and I got a pretty good skip off of it," Mastroianni said. "Once I realized I wasn't going to be able to get to it, I was able to get around it enough where I could get my body turned and not waste a whole lot of time getting in a position to throw it."
On Monday in Jupiter, Fla., he made a nice running catch. And he's hitting .316.
"He's had a real good camp," said manager Paul Molitor. "I've been kind of playing him around out there and he's responding."
Mastroianni, 30, played for the Twins from 2012 until being claimed on waivers by the Blue Jays in April 2014. He signed back with Minnesota during the offseason and leads the team with 13 games played.
"I've been very fortunate this spring," he said. "It's not every spring do you have guys hitting balls that you can run down. Or get a chance to throw somebody out. So I've been fortunate to get those opportunities and I'm trying to make the best of them. I'm just trying to do the best I can and play the game the right way.
"I've played in just about every game and it's been fantastic. Start, back up, it doesn't matter. At- bats are at-bats. Playing time is playing time. Considering how many outfielders we have, I feel very fortunate getting the number of at-bats [19] I've gotten."
The Twins still have 11 outfielders in camp. "There are so many of us, we've stopped counting," he said with a laugh. "But it's been great getting a chance to play all around the outfield and get at- bats."