The Twins Week Ahead - April 2

Spring Training has been going on, by my conservative estimate, for 43 weeks or so. It's April now, and Seattle and Oakland have already played two games, and yet somehow the baseball season still feels like it's snuck up on us. There are real games this week! There are opening day rosters afoot! They're filled with middle relievers we've been ignoring because, like cattle on the farm, we didn't want to give them names so we wouldn't feel bad when Terry Ryan got out the cow Taser!

Here's a look at this week in Twins baseball:

Last Week's Headlines

2012 Twins Opening Day Roster
Jesse breaks down the Opening Day roster.

Drew Butera Optioned to Rochester
The move meant that the Twins would open the season with only two catchers in Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit, rather than three as widely expected.

Parmelee makes team, four-man rotation set to open the season - Star Tribune
Joe Christensen reported that Chris Parmelee would make the team, and that the rotation would line up with Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Liam Hendriks, and Nick Blackburn to open the year.

This Week's Schedule

Spring training isn't quite over yet, as the Twins take on Tampa Bay today and tomorrow in Florida. Wednesday, they play one last game, against the farm club in Fort Myers, and then they head north to Baltimore to open the season. It's a three-game season-opening set with the Orioles. Here's the schedule:

• Friday: 2:05 PM vs. Baltimore. TV: FSN. Probables: Carl Pavano vs. Jake Arrieta
  
• Saturday: 6:05 PM vs. Baltimore. TV: FSN. Probables: Francisco Liriano vs. Wei-Yin Chen
  
• Sunday: 12:35 PM vs. Baltimore. TV: FSN. Probables: Liam Hendriks vs. Jason Hammel