Wealth of health

After an injury-plagued 2002, Twins rotation is ready to go

Throughout spring training, SI.com will feature regular dispatches from Sports Illustrated staffers assigned to scout camps in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues.

By Albert Chen, Sports Illustrated

Team: Minnesota Twins

Site: Fort Myers, Fla.

Temperature: 81, partly cloudy, slight breeze

Player I Saw Whom I Really Liked: Johan Santana. This is how the Twins left-hander spent his winter vacation: Before arriving at camp two weeks ago, Santana spent four months in his native country of Venezuela, where he lived with his parents in the mountainous village of Tovar Merida amid the country's political unrest. Santana, who during his stay once waited in line for eight days just to fill up his car with gas, had expected to play Winter League ball in Venezuela, but the countrywide instability forced its cancellation. So, all Santana could do to stay in shape was jog along the rocky terrain of the Andes mountains. "I really hurt my hamstrings doing it," he says. "I got here really out of shape. I've been working hard, and I'm almost back."

Thus far, the 23-year old looks much like the dominant pitcher he was in 2002, when the Twins got a glimpse of what the 6-foot, 195-pound power pitcher is capable of. He joined the team from the minors in late May, arriving with a vastly improved changeup which Santana says made all the difference last year. Though he ranked fifth on the team in innings (108 1/3), he led the team in strikeouts (137 Ks). His 11.38 whiffs per nine innings ranked second among hurlers with at least 100 innings pitched, trailing only Randy Johnson (11.56).

With the starting five of Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Rick Reed, Joe Mays and Kyle Loshe all (finally) healthy, there's no room in the rotation for Santana, who'll pitch from the bullpen unless one of the fragile starters goes down (which, given this quintet's history, is rather probable). But two or three years from now, Santana may be the Twins' most formidable pitcher. Until then, he's exercising patience. "Of course I'd like to start for this team now," he says. "But I know my situation here, and I know my time will come."

Around the Horn: The Twins were three wins away from going to the World Series last fall, but the general perception is that a duplicate run that deep into October this season is about as likely as Kelly Clarkson inking a second record deal. But before you count them out, consider that the team posted 94 victories with just one 15-game winner (Reed) and with significant drops in production from the starting infield of Doug Mientkiewicz, Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzman and Luis Rivas. ...

The team is healthier than it was at any point last season, a scary thought for its division foes. Minnesota will likely see the greatest improvement in its starting pitching: In 2002, the Twins lost ace Radke for 2 1/2 months because of a recurring groin injury. Mays, a 17-game winner in 2001, was out for 3 1/2 months with a sore right elbow. No. 2 starter Milton missed a month with a troublesome left knee. He underwent surgery last August and pitched in the playoffs, but his health appears to be the most worrisome. He says he's fine, but swelling has slowed him down this spring. ...

Mientkiewicz has lost 24 pounds since October thanks to a furious 3 1/2 month offseason workout regimen with professional trainers in Arizona. "I got my ass kicked," says the first baseman, who hit .261 last year after batting .306 in his breakout 2001 season. "But I feel great."...

Last week, the only departed member from the 2002 squad, designated hitter David Ortiz, cooked chicken and rice at Eddie Guardado's Florida home for his former teammates -- Guardado, Torii Hunter, Jacques Jones and new Twins reliever Mike Fetters. After a couple games of poker, Ortiz, who signed in January with the Red Sox, told the group, "I'm really going to miss you guys." Says Guardado, "We're really going to miss him [Ortiz] in the clubhouse." Minnesota will sorely miss his bat: Ortiz was one of only three Twins (Hunter and Jones are the others) who banged out more than 15 home runs in 2002. ...

The Twins' most glaring weakness last year? Baserunning. Minnesota's 56 percent stolen base success rate was dead last in the majors. Former Twin Paul Molitor arrived at Fort Myers on Friday and has been schooling players on technique. Guzman, Rivas and Koskie have all stolen 25 bases in a season. None swiped more than a dozen last year. Manager Ron Gardenhire says he'll continue to be aggressive. "The physical ability is there," he says. "The players need to think the process through, sit on the bench and study the pitcher and see what part of the body moves first to get the best jump possible. They've got to put the physical part of the game along with the mental." Gardenhire keeps his players on a tight leash on the bases: only two Twins have the green light to steal, and Jones, who had only six swipes as the leadoff hitter last year, is not one of them. "If I'm not allowed to run, how am I going to get better?" he says. "It's surprising that I don't have the green light."

Sports Illustrated writer-reporter Albert Chen covers the baseball beat for the magazine and will check in periodically with reports from his tour of spring camps.

 

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