FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Matt Wallner has not, historically, put up big numbers in Spring Training. He¡¯s making up for it this year.
Wallner hit his fourth and fifth homers of the spring on Friday night, both majestic shots to center field, as the Twins poured on yet another offensive outburst in a 13-6 win against the Rays. Wallner is one shy of the Grapefruit League lead in homers after the two long balls, one of which went slightly to left-center field and one of which went slightly to right-center field.
¡°He has real thunder in his bat,¡± manager Rocco Baldelli said. ¡°When he hits it and he barrels balls up, they do different things than what happens when most people hit the barrel on the ball. ¡ When he barrels the ball up, they just go further and harder than anybody else.¡±
Overall, Wallner went 3-for-5 on Friday, adding a double for good measure. They were the fifth, sixth and seventh extra-base hits of the spring for the slugger, who has two doubles and three singles among his 10 total hits.
Paddack shakes it off
Chris Paddack got quite a scare in his last start, as he was hit twice by comebackers -- one that hit his glove then the side of his head, and one that struck him squarely on the right arm. But he said that game was nowhere near his mind when he took the mound on Friday night against the Rays.
That¡¯s partly because he did some work in between starts to make sure of it.
¡°I actually got some extra reps this week on some PFPs (pitchers fielding practice),¡± he said. ¡°I said, ¡®Hey, give me some comebackers. Let me get that bug out of there, have a little reaction time of just being able to know that that¡¯s probably not gonna happen again, get those jitters out.¡¯ Just like guys in the box when they get hit in the head or a ball that catches them somewhere they don¡¯t want to get hit, they¡¯ve got to get back in there. If there¡¯s a little bit of fear, that might affect some things. So [I got] some extra reps in PFPs this week, and it paid off.¡±
Paddack pitched four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Morales keeps hitting
Jeferson Morales is not a ranked prospect. Although he began his career as a catcher, he rarely plays there anymore. He actually reached Minor League free agency this past offseason, but signed a Minor League contract with the Twins, the only organization he¡¯s known, and received a non-roster invitation to Spring Training.
He was, simply, one of the longest of long shots to stick around in camp for any extended period of time this year. But guess what? He¡¯s still in camp, and he¡¯s still hitting.
Morales singled again on Friday to bring his spring mark to .471 (8-for-17). It¡¯s still just about impossible to see a path for him to make the Opening Day roster, but things happen during a season. And when you make an impression like Morales has made, you increase the chances for a cup of coffee at some point.
¡°He's been a good producer over the years,¡± Baldelli said Thursday. ¡°He's been a good player and a guy that has continued to go out there and hit balls hard consistently in the organization. And our guys have enjoyed watching him and working with him. So, [he] moves around the field a little bit, plays in different spots, but has some real snap in the bat and gives you a good chance to hit a ball hard somewhere. ¡ I love having that kind of guy to put in there, and he's making you want to give him even more at-bats this camp.¡±