FORT MYERS, FLA. — Twins General Manager Bill Smith said the team is confident Scott Baker (right shoulder stiffness) will return from the 15-day disabled list after missing one or two starts.

As for Justin Morneau (sore back): “I’ve been told he should be fine for Opening Day,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Delmon Young (sore right shoulder) will be back in the lineup Friday, Gardenhire added.

Nick Punto left today’s game after he fell onto the baseball, back-side first, trying to chase a fourth-inning pop up.

“The wind was blowing, the sun was out – it wasn’t the prettiest play I’ve ever seen Punto make,” Gardenhire said. “But they told me he’ll be fine.”

ROSTER DECISIONS

Gardenhire said LHP Brian Duensing and RHP Philip Humber have yet to be told they’ve made the club because the team is considering carrying 11 pitchers again. They had been firm in their stance about keeping 12 pitchers, but that was before the position players started dropping like flies.

“That’s why we haven’t said anything,” Gardenhire said. “Seeing how ugly this thing gets before we make any decisions. A lot can happen in two more days.”

The Twins are down to 26 players for 25 spots. If they go with 12 pitchers and don’t make a trade, the most likely move is sending INF Matt Tolbert to Class AAA Rochester.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.