MINNEAPOLIS -- With only 10 days remaining until Opening Day, the Twins still haven't seen their newly minted starting first baseman in camp, as Miguel Sanó remains sidelined and quarantined due to his positive tests for COVID-19.

Sanó was still learning the nuances of first base during the original Spring Training period, but Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said that the slugger's adjustment to his new permanent position is less a concern this summer than his overall physical condition once Sanó tests negative twice at least 24 hours apart and is cleared to return to the team.

"I think it’s more of a question if Miguel is ready physically to play, more than anything else, more than the question about playing a new position or anything in particular," Baldelli said. "He's going to have to be here to take a look at him, assess him, assess him in the weight room, training room, on the field."

• Buxton day to day, possible for Opening Day

The 27-year-old Sanó moved across the diamond from third base when the Twins signed Josh Donaldson to a four-year, $92 million contract during the offseason. Sanó had at times filled in at first base throughout his career, including in 2019, but he has never made more than 11 appearances at the position in a season.

In an effort to make up for that relative lack of experience, Sanó worked during the offseason with former Major Leaguer Fernando Tatís in the Dominican Republic and also put in reps with infield coordinator and third-base coach Tony Diaz when he arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., for Spring Training.

"Probably the most important part of that is he has a desire to be good over there," Baldelli said. "He doesn’t just go over there nonchalantly, get a little bit of work in, take a few ground balls, and think he’s good. He doesn’t think he’s good. He’s confident in his ability, but he knows that he has things he’s gonna learn and pick up on and need to spend time on. And he’s been very willing to do it, which has been the most encouraging thing that you could ask for."

And frankly, regardless of Sanó's full readiness at first base, his big bat is too important to the lineup to leave him out over defensive considerations. He hit .247/.346/.576 with a career-high 34 homers in only 105 games last season while posting the second-highest average exit velocity in baseball (94.4 mph), behind only Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

Littell being stretched out as length option
Zack Littell established his Major League credentials last year after the organization moved him away from a starting role, as his stuff played up in shorter stints, and he pitched to a 2.68 ERA in 29 appearances.

The Twins are hoping that Littell can find some of that starter's depth in his arm once again as they prepare him for the potential of extended outings during the 2020 season. Most of the Twins' other projected Major League bullpen arms -- Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Sergio Romo, Tyler Clippard, Trevor May, Cody Stashak and Matt Wisler -- have been throwing one-inning stints in intrasquad play, but Littell was trotted out for nearly three innings of work on Tuesday.

"With a guy like Zack, and some other guys that have been starters for us that may find themselves in the bullpen, having the ability to give you an inning or three is gonna be something that’s gonna be beneficial to us," Baldelli said. "I think there are different ways that we can use our group in the bullpen in different situations, and use them collectively in the best possible way."

Pitching coach Wes Johnson indicated earlier in camp that he anticipated carrying two starters in long relief roles out of his bullpen. Randy Dobnak, Jhoulys Chacín, Devin Smeltzer, Lewis Thorpe and Sean Poppen are presumably competing for those spots. Littell's demonstrated ability to be successful in short stints and his potential to eat innings could help him round out that bullpen picture as the Twins figure out their 30-man roster situation in the coming week.

Twins, FOX Sports North to stream Wednesday's scrimmage
After several days of less formal intrasquad scrimmage settings, the Twins will return to a more faithful game reproduction on Wednesday, when they will play a 7 1/2-inning intrasquad game featuring public-address announcements, music, scoreboard graphics, crowd noise and inning breaks. If the Twins stay on their pitching schedule, Kenta Maeda and Smeltzer will be in line to start.

The game will be streamed on both twinsbaseball.com and at foxsports.com/north with a four-camera compilation and broadcast graphics. Television play-by-play broadcaster Dick Bremer and analyst Justin Morneau will have the call on the commercial-free stream, which will begin at 7 p.m. CT ahead of a 7:10 p.m. first pitch.

It will also mark the first time that the Twins will play a "true" exhibition game this summer, with two full rosters and two complete lineups set to compete.

"You probably want to let some of your infielders and some of your outfielders that are going to spend a lot of time playing with each other get a few extra innings together," Baldelli said. "I think that always helps."

Twins tidbits
• The Twins added versatile Minor League player Caleb Hamilton to camp on Monday as a non-roster invitee. While in camp, Hamilton will count against the team's 60-man player pool limit, but because he is in Minneapolis as a replacement for players on the IL for COVID-related reasons, he can later be removed without releasing him from the organization.

Hamilton saw some action at third base during Tuesday's scrimmage and is also a catcher, which is particularly important due to Willians Astudillo's continued unavailability due to positive tests for COVID-19.