Welcome back to Baseball Season
(Deland, FL/Minnesota News Network) — The Golden Gopher baseball team opens its season tonight in Florida. Minnesota and Stetson will play a single game to open the season tonight at 5:30 P-M. The Gophers then will play St. John’s (NY) on Saturday at 9 A-M and then against Ball State on Sunday at 8:30 A-M. The Golden Gophers were 20-and-30 a year ago and head coach Ty McDevitt says they have addressed pitching issues by adding a lot of depth within the staff. He says about 15 newcomers will join a base of returning players to form a roster that he thinks will be competitive in the Big Ten Conference.
(Fort Myers, FL/Minnesota News Network) — The Minnesota Twins continue spring training today in Fort Myers, Florida with pitchers and catchers officially working out. Position players report on Monday, although several are already at the complex playing baseball. Ace pitcher Pablo Lopez got to Florida a few weeks early to help prepare for the upcoming World Baseball Classic where he will be representing Venezuela. The W-B-C begins on March 5th and runs through March 17th. The pool-play rounds will be played in Miami, Houston, San Juan, and Tokyo. The quarterfinals will be split between Miami and Houston, while the semi-finals and the final will be played in Miami. Lopez says his arm feels great and they always take precautions to make sure no pitcher is overused in the event. He says he understands his bigger commitment is to the Twins season in 2026, but he also says representing his native country is a thrill. In addition to Lopez, the Twins will have Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Luis Quinones, Dan Altavilla, and Matt Bowman taking part in the W-B-C. Meanwhile, the Twins play the Golden Gophers in an exhibition game in Fort Myers a week from tonight and open Grapefruit League play a week from tomorrow against the Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile, the Twins traded for Dodger pitcher Anthony Banda yesterday in exchange for international bonus pool money. Banda appears in 71 games last year for L-A, going 5-1 with a 3.18 earned run average. He is a left-hander.
