Minnesota Twins Daily Morning Dip: Twins first relief ace
Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, February 5th, 2018
Welcome to the February 5th edition of the Daily Dip, your daily piece of news and notes here on Puckett’s Pond, offseason edition. You’ll find the most recent news of the Minnesota Twins organization, stories from around the game, and links to any information you may want to know about the Minnesota Twins or baseball as we work our way through the hot stove season!
Minnesota Twins Organizational Scores
Australian Baseball League Update
Brisbane clinched their spot in the championship series with a 9-8 win over Melbourne on Sunday. Aaron Whitefield started in left field, going 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Caribbean Series Update
The Caribbean Series is played each year with the winning team from each of the Venezuelan, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Mexican Winter Leagues in a five-team tournament with Cuba participating as well.
The Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico on Sunday 6-3. While he is currently a minor league free agent, Carlos Paulino spent 2017 with the Twins organization. He went 2-3 in the game with a double, a walk, and a strikeout.
Venezuela defeated Mexico 6-4 on Sunday. Willians Astudillo started at catcher, going 3-5 with 2 runs and a home run in the game.
Player Stats (just in the Caribbean Series, not the entire winter):
Willians Astudillo, 14 PA, .429/.429/.714, 3 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
Minnesota Twins news and notes
Pineda hopes to impact team this season
Michael Pineda spoke with the Star Tribune recently, and in this video interview, he discusses his feelings on his rehab and his intentions to be able to impact the Minnesota Twins in 2018.
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: Does the MLB or the Twins have a Spending Problem?
- Minnesota Twins: 2 Possible Free Agent Reunions for 2023
- Minnesota Twins: Holiday Wish List for the rest of the Offseason
- Minnesota Twins: After signing with the Mets, Correa spurns Twins again
- Minnesota Twins: You Spin Me Right Round, Right Round
Notes from around baseball
- Yankees could challenge HR mark
- Best baseball Super Bowl reactions
- Scouting top 100 pitchers
- Puerto Rican team using Caribbean Series to bring joy
- Compton event highlights Riggio
- Stroman does goat yoga
- Trout adds to perfect offseason
- Colon and Rangers agree on minor league deal
- Betts and Paul compete in celebrity bowling tournament
- UConn pitcher has incredible instincts
- Hernandez pretends to throw puck into crowd at Kings game
- Byrnes once sacked Brady 3 times
- J.Lo wears A-Rod’s number in pre-SB party
Next: Would Dozier extension be wise?
One Last Thing
Before there were really closers as they’re known today, the Minnesota Twins had one of the longest-running relief aces. Coming to the team in 1964 when the Twins bought his contract from the Reds, Al Worthington immediately established himself with Twins fans, throwing to a 1.37 ERA over 72 1/3 innings and saving 14 games in his first season with the team.
Worthington held the reigns on the closer’s job until he was 40, posting a 2.34 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 166/348 BB/K ratio over 412 1/3 innings of relef, saving 85 games. After a 4.57 ERA in 1969 at age 40, he retired, taking the role of head coach at Liberty University after his playing career, where he served as the head coach or athletic director at the school for 15 years.
“Red” is 89 years young today. Happy birthday!