Starting Lineup Notes

The baseball season is coming, can you feel it?

There is a lot happening around the Twins camp this time of year, and changes are being made.

I'm extremely excited, but here are a few notes from the Spring Training complex in Florida from March 27.

The second base "race" is more pathetic than I imagined. Brenden Harris is starting as of now, but that almost definitely will change. Ron Gardenhire will probably end up putting Punto in the lineup before the second week of the season is over, but because Punto is only hitting .122 in Spring Training, Gardenhire has no real excuse to put him in right now.

He seems to be the only Twins fan who likes Punto, doesn't he? Harris' defense is atrocious right now, but then again, Punto's is also shaky.

Lineup holes are getting filled left and right—and finally in centerfield. Ron Gardenhire said that he is going with Carlos Gomez in centerfield.

While I believe that this is a good choice, Denard Span took the news hard. He choked up a few times in the press conference and said that he believed that he had a good shot at making the team.

Speaking of Gomez, he will bat in the lead-off spot for this 2008 Twins squad. There are better lead-off options, and I think that Gomez shouldn't be given this position.

The lead-off hole is designated for players who can easily get on base for the power hitters in the middle of the lineup to hit on in. At 22, the free-swinging Gomez doesn't quite fit that mold yet.

This might not be an entirely bad thing, though. Gomez, according to Jerry White, is the fastest player in baseball. When he does get on base, he will provide a constant threat and steal a lot of bases.

Now for a quick update on Lew Ford. His career in Minnesota ended last year when he hit .302 BA/.383 OBS/.461 SP through the first 188 games, but his new start in Japan is going great. His new team is the Hanshin Tigers, and they played an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox the other day.

Ford made a "highlight reel" catch to rob Jacoby Ellsbury of an extra-base hit. On a side note, Ford was drafted by the Red Sox out of Dallas Baptist University in 1999.