Before we get into baseball, I have a request.

Warmer weather is just a few weeks away, which means many of you will pull your motorcycles out of storage and hit the roads. I don’t own a motorcycle but know many people who do. All I ask is this:

1. Wear a helmet.

2. If you own one of those high-performance models, don’t try to prove you’ve got the baddest machine in the land.

3. Automobile drivers, please give motorcycles more space on the roads and highways.

I drove by a terrible scene Saturday after covering the Twins-Phillies game in Clearwater. I think I approached  just a couple minutes after the accident happened because motorists were just beginning to get out of their cars and run over to the biker. But the first two people to run over stopped about 10 yards from him and just turned around to get on their cell phones.

I understood why they stopped short as I slowly rolled by.

What made it even tougher was that I had made a wrong turn and had to turn around and come back by scene. By then, there were a bunch of young adults, a couple with the same motorcycle in the picture, looking on.

It was a very disturbing scene. That’s why I ask everyone, as motorcycle season approaches, to be careful.

Back to  baseball…

Scott Baker has caught the same flu bug that has hit Rick Anderson, Carmen Cali and Randy Ruiz in recent days. He’s  stayed home and his bullpen session will be pushed back. Anderson still feels confident Baker will be ready to start the regular season. They just need proof that he’s lat strain has healed.

Here’s the Twins’ starting lineup:

1. Jason Pridie, RF. 2. Nick Punto, 2B. 3. Delmon Young, LF. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Craig Monroe, CF. 6. Jason Kubel, DH. 7. Mike Redmond, C. 8. Mike Lamb, 3B. 9. Adam Everett, SS. Pitching: Francisco Liriano, then Brian Bass, Pat Neshek, Matt Guerrier, Casey Daigle, Dennys Reyes, Ricky Barrett.

Christopher Parmalee was selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2006 draft and touted as a top power prospect.

Through 184 minor league games and 623 at-bats, Parmalee is batting .249 with 23 homers and 137 RBI. He also has a .330 on base percentage.

Last year at Beloit he was .239-15-70 in 128 games and 447 at-bats.

He just turned 20 but has completed a full minor league season. But instead of moving him up to Class A Fort Myers this year, he has been told that he will open the year at Beloit. In fact, the Twins will do the same with five-tool prospect Joe Benson.

The Twins feel that instead of the risk of putting them over their heads at high-A Fort Myers they’ll give them a better chance to get off to a good start before promoting them. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but neither Parmalee nor Benson lit it up last year.

Anyway, here’s the reason for writing this note: Parmalee has four homers over the past three spring games for Beloit.

The Twins have been very pleased with the catch-and-throw ability of Drew Butera, who was part of the Luis Castillo trade.

Butera has no shot of making the club (which is why I’m writing this as a minor league note) but could be an emergency option during the season. He finished last season at Class AA New Britain.

“I think we all believe that if we had a real issue and (Jose) Morales wasn’t ready or hurt, Butera could come up here and play and do fine and handle it fine,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Offensively he is not ready but, definitely,  he can catch and throw right now.”

Morales, by the way, homered off the batter’s eye Saturday in a minor league spring game.

Righthander Zach Day, an early cut from camp, has been placed on a shoulder strengthening program at the minor league complex and will begin the season in Fort Myers at extended spring training.

Pitching coach Rick Anderson is not on the trip. Don’t know if he’s still too sick to work or if he was staying back to monitor Scott Baker’s bullpen session or something in between.

Baker threw a light pen this morning and reported no prbblems. He’s expected to throw a full bullpen session early next week.

This is a big outing for Slowey. The wind is gusting to center. If he keeps the ball in the park today, he’ll raise the stakes in the rotation battle.

Twins:1. Span (CF), 2. Gomez (RF), 3. Young (LF), 4. Morneau (1B), 5. Kubel (DH), 6. Redmond (C), 7. Lamb (3B), 8. Punto (2B), 9. Everett (SS). Pitching: Slowey, then Perkins, Reyes, Neshek, Barrett, Mulvey.

Phillies: Rollins, Victorino, Utley, RYAN HOWARD, Burrell, Jenkins, Feliz, Werth, Ruiz. Pitching: Adam Eaton will start but The Real Deal is expected  to follow him.

I have a bunch of notes and observations from camp today.

Carlos Gomez is quite a player when he puts the bat on the ball. He needs to show the Twins that he can make adjustments at the plate or they will consider having him start the season in the minors.

Gomez needs to be more balanced in the batter’s box or he’ll always struggle with breaking balls. He’s a very confident young man, which the Twins don’t want to take away, but he also needs to respond to coaching suggestions. Friday, in which he was 2 for 5, was a good day in that regard.

People in the organization feel that Denard Span has risen to the occasion in camp. He’s batting .227 but five walks has his on base percentage at .393. However, he’ll need to boost that average to make the Span-or-Gomez decision tougher.

I don’t understand why Pridie has been taken out of the running so early. He’s the type of player whose skills won’t jump off a scout’s card but will grow on you over time. And he went 2 for 4 Friday to up his average to .310.

Joe Nathan looked real good Friday. “His fastball had a lot of life,” Gardy said.

Gardenhire also was impressed with Phil Humber’s three hitless innings of work (he did walk a batter). Humber could force a tough decision with a couple more outings like the one on Friday.

At this point, you have to believe Nick Blackburn deserves a spot in the rotation, with Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, Humber and others in the hunt. That would make the rotation Livan, Baker, Boof, Liriano and Blackburn.

By the way, expect Liriano to go into the season still trying to let the slider go like he used to. That’s the mental hurdle that must be cleared after Tommy John surgery. 

Matt Macri, who was cut today, has the size to develop power and should be worth watching at Class AAA Rochester. Gardy said Macri will be moved around the Red Wings infield.

Make sure you check the gas gauge when picking up a rental car.
Twins lefthander Dennys Reyes switched rentals Thursday night but didn’t realize that the car given to him was low on fuel. Reyes was driving on Interstate 75 about 9 p.m. when the car ran out of gas and stopped.
Reyes left the car on the shoulder of the freeway to walk a mile to a gas station to purchase a gas can and fuel.
“I was walking back, and cars were coming at me going, `beep! beep!’ ‘‘ Reyes said.
Reyes said he got about 300 yards from his car and noticed a squad car was behind it. He began to run toward the vehicles but the squad car pulled away by the time he got there..

Twins owner Carl Pohlad, in Fort Myers for a few days, visited the club before the game. Confined to a wheelchair, he stuck out a hand and said, `how you guys doin’’ as he rolled by Brian Buscher and Garrett Jones.
Delmon Young walked up to Pohlad and greeted him with a handshake, but wasn’t aware who Pohlad was until Nick Punto introduced him.
“He’s the boss.’’ Punto said.

Pitching coach Rick Anderson has the flu and wasn’t at the park on Friday. Minor league pitching coordinator Rick Knapp filled in for him. Lefthander Carmen Cali was sent home with the flu too.

Matt Tolbert is a batting cage rat. I think he’s taken more swings in the cage than anyone in camp. He has little chance of making the team (Craig!) but should debut sometime this season.

A couple observers at camp feel that Delmon Young has the fastest bat on the team.

Alexi Casilla, Matt Macri, Chris Basak, Mariano Gomez and Howie Clark were seen packing their bags, shaking hands and leaving the clubhouse this morning, a sign that they have been cut.

The Twins haven’t officially announced the cuts, but I’ve seen this behavior before so I’m going out on a limb, darn it!!!!!

[9 a.m. update] Cuts are official,but also include right handers Bobby Korecky and Julio DePaula. DePaula, Korecky, Casilla and Macri were optioned to Rochester. Gomez, Basak and Clark were reassinged to the minor league camp.

None of these cuts were surprising. Casilla, however, was in position to at least make a good impression but didn’t. He tried to make fancy plays that backfired on him and he wasn’t much of a threat at the plate.

Macri is an interesting player.He’s got enough size to make you think he can develop some pop. He should play third base at Class AAA Rochester.

Gomez is interesting too. I can see him emerging as a lefty option during the year. And, being from Honduras, I was able to talk to him about soccer. That’s a plus in my book!!!!!

It’s a beautiful day here in Fort Myers, I mean, it could be the best day of spring training. I’ve tried to avoid rubbing the weather down here in your faces, but it’s an exceptional morning in Southwest Florida.

Pirates: 1. McLouth, CF. 2, Luis Rivas, SS. 3. Bay, LF. 4. Nady, RF. 5. Mientkiewicz, 1B. 6. Paulino, C. 7. Walker, 3B. 8. Gomez, 2B. 9. Bixler, DH. Pitcher: Taubenheim.

Twins: 1. Gomez, CF. 2. Mauer, C. 3. Cuddy, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Monroe, DH. 6. Lamb, 3B. 7. Harris, 2B, 8. Pridie, LF. 9. Tolbert, SS. Pitching: Bonser.