Twins gift Duran a cake for unique 'splinker'
Do-Hyoung Park
@dohyoungparkMINNEAPOLIS -- Well, the precedent is now set in the Twins' clubhouse: Set a baseball record, and you get a cake.
After starter Dylan Bundy watched rookie teammate Jhoan Duran throw the hardest off-speed pitch ever tracked -- a unique "splinker" pitch at 101 mph -- in Monday's game against the Red Sox, Bundy deadpanned in his postgame interview, live on network cameras, that Duran deserved a treat for the occasion.
"IĄ¯m jealous," Bundy said. "ThatĄ¯s unheard of. Apparently, nobodyĄ¯s ever done that, we just found out. He deserves a cake."
So, on Tuesday, Bundy actually delivered Duran a cake.
As documented by the Twins' content team on social media, the club went out and acquired a cake from a local grocery chain, and even got it custom frosted with the message, "Felicidades! 100.8 mph splinker!" to commemorate the feat, which had made ripples in the Twins' clubhouse Monday night.
Bundy brought the confection -- a white cake with green frosting and sprinkles -- to Duran as the 24-year-old sat with several Latin American teammates at a table in the clubhouse.
"Duran, I got you something, buddy," Bundy said. "All for you, right here."
Duran, Gio Urshela and Jose Miranda started cackling when they saw the frosted message on the cake, a recognition of Duran not only throwing the hardest off-speed pitch, but also the only one thrown faster than 100 mph, during the battle Monday night in the seventh inning between Duran and star Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers.
"I wasnĄ¯t expecting it, and those are little things that your teammates do to make you happy," Duran said through interpreter Elvis Martinez. "It made me happy."
Apparently, Bundy has the power to conjure cakes with the power of his words. Perhaps next time, he'll use that influence to speak a new watch or truck into existence for one of his teammates, too.
"You try not to blurt out something, but I guess I blurted that out," Bundy said. "Because I guess saying I'm jealous wasn't enough. Everybody's still staring at you. So I said I guess he deserves a cake."
"During my birthday when you usually get cake, itĄ¯s the offseason," Duran said. "So thatĄ¯s the first time a teammate gave me a cake."