FORT MYERS, Fla. — Count star shortstop Carlos Correa among the proponents of the changes in camp that manager Rocco Baldelli deemed necessary after last season.
Baldelli has been alluding to tweaks in camp that would primarily affect the position players. Among them, everything is now mandatory, Correa said — they’re running together, they’re taking batting practice together, they’re taking groundballs together. They’re together more and pushing each other.
“He put together a great plan for us to be more structured, to be more together, to be doing everything as a unit,” Correa said. “I appreciate that very much. That’s the type of work that I like.”
Among the main benefits of having more structure, Correa said, is the increased amount of time spent with teammates. That means he can see everybody’s swing and give them cues on things that might have worked for him in the past. He can offer pointers while taking grounders and receive them, as well.
“It just brings everybody together, closer and closer as opposed to just everybody in their clubhouse on their phones,” Correa said. “It’s beautiful to watch, and I’m glad Rocco is doing that this year.”
Some of these new changes will mean veterans are getting more at-bats, getting into games earlier in spring training and making road trips.
In the early going, that group — Correa included — seems to be among the most enthusiastic about the changes. The end goal of this is winning more games, Baldelli has said, and becoming closer as a team in the process is part of that.
“There are veteran players that have had routines for years, and some of this differs with some of those routines, but they’ve taken to all of this very enthusiastically, and I think some of the biggest proponents and guys that are enjoying it the most are the veteran players,” Baldelli said. “That’s been great. But we’ve gotten it from all of our guys, and it’s looked like what we hoped.”
Broadcast schedule released
Nearly all of the Twins’ games this spring will be available for fans to either watch or listen to. Twins.TV will have five telecasts this spring. Cory Provus will be on the call, joined by Justin Morneau for two games and Glen Perkins for three. Those games will start on March 16.
Twelve more games will be available to watch on MLB.TV with the opposing team’s announcers handling the broadcast. All of those games can be accessed for free.
Additionally, the Treasure Island Baseball Network will have 20 audio broadcasts that can be streamed for free via the Audacy app. Fourteen of those will be carried on 830 WCCO and simulcast on 102.9 The Wolf. Kris Atteberry and Sean Aronson, the Saints’ play-by-play man, will each handle games, while Dan Gladden and Paul Molitor will provide color commentary.
The Twins’ first spring training game will be Saturday against the Atlanta Braves. While there is no television stream, Atteberry and Gladden will call the game on the radio side.
Briefly
A host of special instructors are in camp, including Hall of Famers Rod Carew and Bert Blyleven. Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and LaTroy Hawkins are also in town.
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