Notes: Polanco, Donaldson, Sanó, Rosario

February 16th, 2020

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- With full-squad workouts set to begin on Monday, said on Sunday that he is close to full go as he continues to recover from an arthroscopic debridement surgery on his right ankle in late November. He is still waiting for full clearance for unrestricted activity from his doctor.

Polanco ran "close to 100 percent" on Saturday and said that the ankle feels fine when he swings the bat. He did indicate that there was a bit of a mental block for him due to the lingering effects of the surgery, but still characterized his progress as "really good."

He underwent the procedure with Dr. Richard Ferkel in Los Angeles in the fall to correct a chronic issue due to repetitive stress, which he said first flared up around the All-Star break in 2019 and became more severe towards the end of the season. He opted for surgery after some offseason rest did little to alleviate the discomfort.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli had said towards the end of the season that Polanco had been playing while banged up due to the extreme thinning of the club's depth around the infield and outfield. Polanco appeared in a team-leading 153 games and finished fifth in the American League with 704 plate appearances. No other Twins player appeared in more than 137 games.

Polanco still posted a strong .295/.356/.485 mark for the season with career highs in homers (22), doubles (40) and hits (186). He was the American League's starting shortstop in the All-Star Game at Progressive Field. But the injury appeared to take its toll, as Polanco's .882 OPS in the first half took a dip to .788 following the All-Star break.

"There's signs I can do a lot on the field," Polanco said. "I've been watching a lot of videos, trying to watch what I did last year and trying to memorize the things I did last year to be ready for this season."

Getting him back to 100 percent would be a good start.

Donaldson continues mentorship tour; Sanó appears at first base

The second day of 's participation in camp took him to the back fields of the complex, where he led top infield prospects Royce Lewis and Travis Blankenhorn in fielding ground balls and making throws to first base, where and -- of all people -- were waiting on the receiving end.

Once the session ended, Donaldson stayed back with the two prospects to walk them through his defensive techniques on the left side of the infield. Lewis has played shortstop at every level of the organization, while Blankenhorn has appeared at second base, third base and in the outfield. Donaldson had given them an impromptu hitting lecture in the batting cages on Saturday afternoon.

"Well, we have some things once camp officially opens up with the full squad that we have planned [for mentorship]," Baldelli said. "Last year, Royce had all the time with [Rod Carew] and [Tony Oliva] during a lot of these games, even when he wasn’t playing. He was injured and took advantage of it. Those are the things we talk about, we try to get as many of those interactions going as we can."

Sanó was expected to be working hard at first base. Cruz? Not so much. But don't read too much into it.

"Nelson likes to be on his feet," Baldelli said. "I think getting up, getting out, sweating, bouncing around probably helps him in a lot of way, and it’s fun. I mean, that’s what we’re here for too. It’s a good time. I don’t know if he’s going to be seeing any action at first base, but maybe he’s breaking the glove in for somebody else."

Odds and ends

• Cruz, Sanó and arrived in the Twins' clubhouse on Sunday after Donaldson showed up on Saturday, meaning that every hitter on the 40-man roster is in camp ahead of the first full-squad workout on Monday. is the only pitcher that has not yet arrived in camp due to visa/immigration issues in his native Dominican Republic.

• The Twins added infielder and first baseman/outfielder Zander Wiel to Major League camp on Sunday. Maggi, 30, played with Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Rochester last season and slashed .258/.380/.407 with 11 homers in 119 games. The 27-year-old Wiel hit 24 homers and slugged .514 in 126 games for Rochester in 2019.