Twins ready for three-city “Minor League Road Trip”

Spend long enough in the major leagues and the road trips start losing their novelty You visit the same ballparks in the same cities You stay at the same hotels and eat at the same restaurants But the road trip the Twins will kick off on Monday is anything but routine It s going to be as enthralling of a trip as we re going to have all year long Twins manager Rocco Baldelli disclosed The guys I doubt majority of them have even thought of it for one second We know it as a staff But we re looking forward to it I think it ll be a nice challenge This swing will take them first to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Rays before a cross-country flight to Seattle and then a four-game series in Sacramento Calif to finish it off They ll play in two cities that they re not accustomed to Tampa rather than St Petersburg and Sacramento as opposed to Oakland and at two ballparks that typically host minor league games We keep calling it the Minor League Road Trip starter Pablo L pez disclosed And that it is When Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida last October it tore up the roof at Tropicana Field and displaced the Rays who this season are playing their home games at Steinbrenner Field the New York Yankees spring training home I remember seeing it live and I remember seeing pictures of it without delay after it happened reported Baldelli a former Rays performer and coach You feel a lot of emotions You feel mostly disappointment and sadness and all that Because of the displacement the Rays have wound up in a stadium that does not have a roof As a product Major League Baseball shuffled the schedule to avoid feasible weather issues during the potentially rainy Florida summer The Twins were initially supposed to host the Rays in Minneapolis this week but their scheduled series here was flipped and will now take place over the Fourth of July weekend That decision left the Twins with an extra-long road trip that includes journey between Florida and Washington L pez disclosed he has been explained to expect a flight that is nearly six hours long and he already has plans for his teammates during it Like he did last year during an off night in Detroit L pez plans to host bingo inviting those interested to the back of the plane He s planning on holding the battle during hours two through four of the flight An off day in Seattle will precede a three-game series against the first-place Mariners before the Twins head south to Sacramento to take on the Athletics at their new home The Athletics moved to Sutter Medical Park this season and intend to play there for the near future before moving to Las Vegas down the line There s chosen curiosity of what it s like catcher Ryan Jeffers explained I know hitters it s a bandbox I think we re going to be a little excited to get chosen balls in the air there Typically used to host the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats the Twins aren t expecting the park will be similar to a major league facility But they can handle a sparse minor annoyances for four days It s going to be quite the experience L pez mentioned It s going to be stimulating to see the set up It s going to be absorbing to see the layout the fans showing up Obviously playing a big league tournament in those parks is definitely going to feel weird and different but it s feet six inches Buxton joining trip Byron Buxton is still day-to-day with a concussion suffered last week but the center fielder is making the trip a good sign for him and the Twins Buxton and Carlos Correa collided last Thursday in Baltimore Correa returned on Friday and Buxton Baldelli mentioned is getting closer He ran Sunday out on the field Baldelli revealed We re going assessment by assessment right now but I think he s ready to get back and play But we need all the doctors to put all the check marks down and make sure that he s ready We have to make sure he s good to go Unlike Buxton Matt Wallner hamstring is not making the trip to Florida though his return on this road trip seems likely should his rehab assignment continue to progress well Briefly Chris Paddack will start Monday night s contest in Tampa The base that Harrison Bader stole in the th inning on Sunday was the th stolen base of his career Related Articles Twins Matt Wallner s return draws nearer though results in Triple-A won t hasten it Brooks Lee sends Twins to walk-off win their second in as a large number of days Ty France s walk-off home run sends Twins to achievement over Royals Carlos Correa returns after a week on concussion injured list Who s on first Three of the newest additions to the Twins roster