Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wants to see more of catcher Jair Camargo

FORT MYERS, FLA. — The Twins made their first cuts of spring camp Wednesday, and Jair Camargowasn’t among them. But he knows it’s only a matter of time, given that there are two veteran catchers ahead of him, and they won’t keep three.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not getting noticed.

Camargo doubled and homered against the Red Sox on Wednesday, and Twins manager Rocco Baldellimade it clear he wants to see more of the 24-year-old Colombian.

“He’s swinging the heck out of it right now. We’ve always believed in his ability, and it’s been a good spring for him,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to see him out there [in Grapefruit League games] pretty regularly, I would say.”

Camargo is 5-for-13 (.385) this spring, and three of his five hits are for extra bases. Not bad for a guy whose main objective this spring has been ingratiating himself with the pitching staff.

“He’s getting used to our way of functioning, our way of preparing for games, pitch-calling especially. How to handle these pitchers, many of whom are veterans — those are things he’s going to focus on,” Baldelli said. “But he’s doing a good job with it. He’s attentive and he’s hardworking.”

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Baldelli informed eight players — none on the 40-man roster — that they’ve been reassigned to minor league camp.

Pitchers Randy Dobnak, Ronny Henriquez, Ryan Jensen and Jovani Morán, catchers Alex Isola and Pat Winkel, first baseman Aaron Sabato and outfielder DaShawn Keirsey will join Class AAA St. Paul.

Dobnak and Morán are recovering from injuries, and the others “just need to go get game reps to get ready,” Baldelli said. “Henriquez and Jensen, they need to go pitch. They just need to work on specific things, and it’s harder to do that here.”

Especially when they are busy calculating their chances of earning a roster spot.

“Now that I’ve told them that they’re not making the club out of spring training, they don’t have to focus on trying to make the club. Because the longer you’re in camp, the longer you think, “Well, there’s a chance. I may have an opportunity here to make this club,’” Baldelli sad. “Working on themselves and their pitches and getting themselves ready is just much more important right now.”

* Representatives of the MLB Players Association gave their annual presentation to Twins players before Wednesday’s game, a session that players said largely focused on the new rules MLB has implemented over the past two seasons.

* Hideki Kuriyama, manager of Japan’s national baseball team, attended Wednesday’s game. In addition to keeping tabs on Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida as a candidate for Samurai Japan, as the team is called, he also met with Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey and other team officials to exchange ideas on player development.

* After three weeks of workouts, Thursday is the first off-day of Twins camp, and Baldelli has his day mapped out. “I’m going to be playing with babies tomorrow,” said the father of 2-year-old Louisa and six-month-old twin boys Enzo and Nino. “Watch a Disney movie, Cheerios, a cup of milk and a sliced-up apple with no skin.”