Twins Spring Training FAQs, important dates

February 12th, 2020

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- All offseason, the Twins have been clear about how they view the 2020 season: It's time for them to win now.

Coming off a 101-win season and their first American League Central championship since 2010, the Twins made their desires clear by signing and acquiring pitchers and as the most significant moves in a busy offseason.

Guess what? The time for speculation and projection is finally over. Twins pitchers and catchers officially reported to the CenturyLink Sports Complex for their first day of workouts on Wednesday, and the Twins' clubhouse was abuzz with confidence and excitement to finally see the team that president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine assembled during the offseason.

"We expect to win," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "The expectation level in camp is that we are coming in, we have a plan, we want to execute the plan. We plan on winning a lot of games, but we have to do it one day at a time. That's really what it comes down to. It comes down to one outing at a time, one at-bat at a time."

There's a new group of veterans in town, too, featuring the likes of Hill, , and , and Hill sees this spring as an important opportunity to hammer home not just a winning culture, but also that expectation of winning among his younger teammates that got their first real taste of the postseason in the 2019 American League Division Series against the Yankees.

"My last four years in L.A., that was always the goal to start off the season -- to win the World Series," Hill said. "It wasn't to get there. It wasn't just to get to the playoffs. It wasn't just to be competitive. It was to win the World Series. Anything short of that didn't complete our goal. To bring that attitude here into Minnesota is something that -- I just want everyone to get used to that."

All but two of the Twins' pitchers and catchers successfully reported to camp on Wednesday. Maeda was still en route to Florida ahead of his expected introduction on Thursday, while reliever Fernando Romero was stuck in the Dominican Republic due to visa and immigration issues. The Twins do not expect Romero to arrive in camp this week.

Here's everything else you need to know about what to expect from the Twins this spring:

Full squad report date
Monday

First full-squad workout
Monday

New faces to know
C Alex Avila, SP Homer Bailey, RP Tyler Clippard, 3B Josh Donaldson, SP Rich Hill, RP Matt Wisler, SP Kenta Maeda

Top prospects to know
SP/RP Jorge Alcala, INF Travis Blankenhorn, OF Gilberto Celestino, SP Dakota Chalmers, SP Edwar Colina, SP Jhoan Duran, INF Nick Gordon, SP Griffin Jax, C Ryan Jeffers, 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff (No. 32), OF Trevor Larnach (No. 81), SS Royce Lewis (No. 9), INF/OF/DH Brent Rooker

Where is the facility?
The Twins' sprawling Minor League complex and Spring Training home are located at the CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla.

Can fans attend workouts?
Fans are able to watch workouts on the back fields of the complex and can watch work being done in the batting cages and bullpens at the main Hammond Stadium complex.

First game
The Twins open their Spring Training schedule with an exhibition game against the University of Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 21, at Hammond Stadium. Longtime Golden Gophers head coach John Anderson was awarded the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award this offseason by the Twins' organization.

First Grapefruit League game
Minnesota will follow its exhibition against the Golden Gophers with the first game of the Grapefruit League schedule on Feb. 22, when the club travels to LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., for a road game against the Pirates. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli will be reunited with Pirates skipper Derek Shelton, his former bench coach and longtime friend.

First TV game
The Twins' first televised game of the spring will be a Feb. 23 contest against the Blue Jays at 12:05 p.m. CT. It will be a simulcast between FOX Sports North (TV), 830 WCCO (radio) and the Treasure Island Baseball Network (radio) with radio crew Cory Provus and Dan Gladden on the call.

One other notable game
The popular "Minnesota Day" promotion at the CenturyLink Sports Complex will take place on March 15, in a split-squad home matchup against the Braves.

Last game in Florida
The Twins wrap up their Grapefruit League schedule with a game on Sunday, March 22, against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers before they take the field for the final exhibition game on the following day, Monday, March 23, against their Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. Last season, Baldelli allowed Nelson Cruz and Eddie Rosario to manage the two sides of that exhibition game.

Any additional exhibitions before the regular season?
No.

Opening Day date, time, opponent and location
The Twins officially begin their 2020 regular season on March 26, with a 3:07 p.m. CT first pitch against the Oakland A's at the Oakland Coliseum. The home opener is scheduled for April 2, also against the A's, at 3:10 p.m. CT.