FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Kenta Maeda didn't have the cleanest debut with his new team on Monday, but he was still in plenty good spirits when he met with the media after he completed his scheduled two innings against the Red Sox at Hammond Stadium, a game Minnesota would go on to win, 3-2.

"I wasn't scheduled to give up a home run on the first hitter, just so you know," Maeda joked.

The right-hander allowed a homer, single and walk to the first three hitters of the game and appeared to be laboring with his command in the first inning, but he said he stopped trying to be too fine with his pitches in a clean second and wrapped up his appearance by retiring the final four batters.

After throwing only 12 of his 23 pitches for strikes in the opening frame, he found the strike zone with 12 of his 14 offerings in the second inning. He's not yet at the point in his spring where he's worried at all about any results; he's just trying to find a feel for all of his pitches and noted that his offspeed offerings, in particular, still need some time.

"Definitely not the best," Maeda said. "Fastball up in the zone and not good command for the offspeed pitches. But I was able to make adjustments in the second inning, so it went well.

Maeda sat at 91-92 mph with his fastball in the first inning and noted that he was pleasantly surprised at how high those numbers were at this point in the spring.

"Everything felt fine," Maeda said. "It's just the little things that need to be refined, adjusted."

Cruz, Rooker return to field
At this point in his career, Nelson Cruz probably doesn't even need Spring Training to get up to speed for the season.

The 39-year-old designated hitter showed no signs of rust in his spring debut on Monday, when he went 2-for-3 with an infield single against Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi and a massive, opposite-field homer off left-handed reliever Kyle Hart. The single was also hit on the nose, as it rocketed back to the mound and hit off Eovaldi's foot to allow Cruz to run the ball out.

It was an encouraging note that Cruz and left fielder Brent Rooker both saw action in Monday's contest after they had been involved in the Twins' only immediate injury concerns of the spring. Cruz was hit by a pitch in live batting practice on Wednesday and was pulled from action, while Rooker was hit in the helmet by an errant pitch in Friday night's exhibition against the University of Minnesota.

Twins slowly work regulars into spring play
Eddie Rosario, Alex Avila and Cruz all made their spring debuts on Monday, leaving only a handful of projected regulars that have not yet played among the Twins' position players.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said at the onset of games that Max Kepler has had a good camp and is on track to play soon, while veteran Marwin Gonzalez is tracking slightly behind, and Jorge Polanco, who is completing his recovery from offseason ankle surgery, should see the field even later. Byron Buxton is the final Twins hitter that should return to game action, as the Twins aren't rushing his recovery from a September surgery to repair a torn left labrum (his non-throwing arm).

"There’s a group of guys, some of the more veteran players might fall into this category, but [Josh] Donaldson and [Cruz] will maybe ramp up on a different schedule, maybe a different pace," Baldelli said. "Some of those guys may play, get a couple of days off, and then play and get a couple of days off and then start getting into some more regular action."

Baldelli allowed Cruz to essentially dictate his own ramp-up schedule last spring and is expected to do so again this camp. Donaldson expects to take two days between games for the first week or so before ramping up to playing every other day and, later, working into back-to-backs.

Odds and ends
• Center fielder Gilberto Celestino homered in the third inning for his first hit of the spring. The 21-year-old prospect was ranked No. 19 in the Twins' organization by MLB Pipeline in 2019 and could see a good amount of action early this spring as Buxton heals. Celestino was added to the 40-man roster this offseason.

• Right-hander Trevor Hildenberger pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the Red Sox. He was outrighted off the Twins' 40-man roster earlier this offseason and elected to become a free agent. He had a 5.35 ERA in 132 games out of the Twins' bullpen over the last three seasons.

Up next
Right-hander Jhoulys Chacín will make his Twins debut on Tuesday as the starting pitcher in a 12:05 p.m. CT matchup against Atlanta at CoolToday Park, the Braves' new facility in North Port, Fla. Chacín is competing with Devin Smeltzer, Randy Dobnak and Lewis Thorpe for the open fifth spot in the rotation. Newly signed reliever Cory Gearrin is also expected to pitch for the first time this spring.