When Rocco Baldelli delivered his first formal message about the 2020 season to his players, the Minnesota Twins manager was not afraid to mention the World Series.
But the baseball top prize was not referenced in the new message he offered earlier this month.
“That’s something everyone has on their mind,” said Baldelli, winner of the AL Manager of the Year award in his first season in 2019, in which the Twins placed first in the Central Division with a record. of 101-61. “It’s something you hear once, and then you don’t need to talk about it anymore.”
The pandemic put a halt to spring training. Almost four months later, when the Twins met again at Target Field, the message revolved more around responsibility and respect.
Valuing everything has always been the north for the success of a team, but in this summer of social distancing, looking out for others took on another meaning. The priority is to comply with hygiene measures to minimize contagion and thus keep the team fighting in a 60-game season and the subsequent playoffs, in addition to ensuring that it can be played.
“You will have to show it on the field because you are not going to play with the public. You will go out to play only for your team, your teammates on the field, “said right fielder Max Kepler. “It will be a different game, but I think we have a great group of players and we are all in solidarity. If someone fails at something, we will give them our support. It will be strange, but we will have to make some adjustments and hopefully everything goes smoothly ”.
Until October? They’re armed to meet that goal after being reinforced in the winter with the acquisitions of third baseman Josh Donaldson and starting pitcher Kenta Maeda.
Donaldson’s $ 92 million four-year contract prompted Miguel Sanó to move to first base. Sanó missed the start of summer camp after testing positive for COVID-19 as soon as he arrived from his native Dominican Republic.
Donaldson hit 37 home runs for Atlanta last season, the third time in five years that he has hit that mark, so his arrival will make the offense more fearsome for a team that broke the all-time major league record with 307 home runs in 2019.
“I am fully convinced that this is a World Series team. I thought so before and I don’t have to change my point of view today, ”said president of baseball operations Derek Falvey. AP (HN)