New pace of play will see Twins manager Rocco Baldelli 'manage differently'

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The pitch clock will speed up the game, the ban on defensive shifts should add a few more hits, and the limits on pickoff throws could encourage stolen bases.

But Rocco Baldelli on Friday predicted that the Twins' offseason position-player acquisitions — outfielders Michael A. Taylor and Joey Gallo, infielder Kyle Farmer and catcher Christian Vazquez — could have an even more profound effect on how games are played.

"We're going to be playing the game with some different pace. The feel of Twins baseball is going to be a little different this year than it was in the past," the manager said after watching the team's players, all of whom have now reported to camp, work out Friday. "I'm going to have to manage differently, we're going to have to coach differently, and the players on the field are going to play differently than some of the seasons that we've had previously."

In Baldelli's four seasons in the Twins' dugout, his team has hit more home runs than any American League team except the Yankees, bunted fewer times than any team but the Rays, and stolen far fewer bases (or attempted to) than any team in the majors, almost 30% fewer than the runner-up Red Sox. They also had runners thrown out on the bases 52 times last year, third-most in the AL.

Some of those trends may change, Baldelli hinted.

"We've had some successful years playing a different type of game, but the athleticism factor is something that I can look at — the guys we brought in generally have a good amount of that. They can go out there and do things on the field that we weren't doing," the manager said. "We're going to play a very much more fast-paced, maybe action-packed, type of game."

It won't just be at the plate, either, Baldelli said. Gallo and Taylor have won Gold Gloves for their defense and are above-average baserunners. And Vazquez? He brings an intangible that separates him, Baldelli said, to the point that "we think he's as good as it gets in baseball."

The former Red Sox and Astros catcher "brings a real attitude and edge and ability to play the game that again, these are things that you're not going to find generally in a number, on a piece of paper. But every person on the field, regardless of which side you're on, recognizes in that player. It's what we call a winning player."

Only eight Twins have ever worn No. 64, all of them since 2011, and with the exception of Willians Astudillo, none for more than a handful of months.

Jose Miranda thinks he might be the guy to change that. The Twins' second-year infielder, assigned 64 when he was called up to the majors last May, considered changing it this spring, but the three numbers he hoped for already were taken.

"So I decided, 'OK, I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to represent 64. I could be [known as] the guy who wore 64," Miranda said. "Maybe someday if I get a [long-term] contract, I might think about it. But I like the idea that I'm the only one with that number. It shows where you came from."

Miranda said he isn't familiar with NFL Hall of Famer Randall McDaniel, the Vikings left guard who wore No. 64, but he enjoyed the thought that it has some local attachment. "Maybe someday there will be two of us," he said with a laugh.

In addition to conditioning and practice sessions, a handful of Twins had another task on Friday: acting. The Twins began filming a series of commercials to run on their broadcasts this season, ads that will feature Byron Buxton, Kenta Maeda, Jhoan Duran and Carlos Correa, among others.