Step right up, folks, and behold the eighth wonder of the world! You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll be amazed as you will be the first ever to witness... robot vs. baseball!
Just so you know, today's game starts at 2:05 pm, NOT 12:05 pm.
Denard Span, CF
Jamey Carroll, SS
Joe Mauer, 1B
Justin Morneau, DH
Josh Willingham, LF (!)
Danny Valencia, 3B
Chris Parmelee, RF (!)
J.R. Towles, C
Luke Hughes, 2B
SP Jeff Gray
Other hitters that may tommy-hawk a pitch or two today: Rene Rivera, Ryan Doumit, Trevor Plouffe, Ben Revere, Brian Dinkelman, Sean Burroughs, Joe Benson, Alexi Casilla
Other pitchers that look to create a good downward plane: Matt Capps, Casey Fien, Matt Maloney, Glen Perkins, Brendan Wise, Alex Burnett
Notes and things (and maybe the Rays lineup if I find it) after the jump.
Some interesting things to point out right away. Jason Marquis (who was supposed to start today) is away from the team right now, so there's no starting pitcher officially tabbed for the Twins. MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger says that Jeff Gray will be starting in his place.
If you noted my exclamation marks, Josh Willingham is in left field today because Chris Parmelee is in right. Willingham has spent most of his career as a left fielder, so we shouldn't have to worry about him over there today, while Parmelee has played some outfield in the minor leagues.
Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN notes that Justin Morneau hasn't played first base in 2 weeks, so it's possible that he'll actually be the DH now. That creates a slew of roster changes, as Doumit gets moved from DH to the bench, Parmelee's on the bench, and there's a possibility that Butera/Towles don't even make the team. My head is spinning just thinking about that.