Three-man battle for job in right field intensifies

BY JASON WILLIAMS and GORDON WITTENMYER
Pioneer Press

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Ron Gardenhire came to a realization Thursday:

The Twins' manager is going to have to give serious consideration to
keeping Jason Kubel on the Opening Day roster.

Kubel continued to build his case to be the starting right fielder in
Thursday's 12-5 split-squad victory over Cleveland. He was 2 for 3 with a
double and two runs batted in.

"That second base hit he got with a man on third, I said right away, 'This
young man is going to really, really make it interesting as we go along in
spring,' " Gardenhire said. "He's swinging pretty good, and he's moving
good in the outfield. And let me tell you, if he's the best player out
there, that's who will be playing out there."

Entering camp, the Twins had low expectations for Kubel, who missed last
season after undergoing knee surgery. But he has viewed himself as having
just as much of a chance at winning the starting role as the other players
in the mix — Michael Cuddyer and Lew Ford. Kubel started in left field
against Cleveland; Cuddyer, the favorite, was in right.

"I'm getting a lot more confidence," said Kubel, who is batting .308 (8
for 26) with two doubles and six RBIs in 12 games. "I'm feeling better
every day. It's time to show something."

Kubel, a left-handed hitter, felt particularly good after whacking a
run-scoring double into the right-center gap off Cliff Lee to tie the
score 2-2 in the fourth inning. He was encouraged to get a hit off a
left-hander, especially one of the best in the American League. The Twins'
left-handed hitters struggled mightily against lefties in 2005.

Gardenhire has been careful not to push Kubel, and he plans to continue to
try to protect the top hitting prospect's health.

"I still think he runs a little ginger at times," Gardenhire said. "But
he's doing everything he has to do. I'm never going to say never until we
get down to the end of spring training. I think you just leave your
options open."

Kubel said he appreciates Gardenhire being cautious, but that no longer is
necessary.

"I'm ready to go," said Kubel, who will start the season in the minors if
he doesn't win the starting job. "I don't feel myself doing anything
different. It may look like that, but my knee feels fine. I don't even
think about it."

Radke retools: Why does an 11-year veteran who is among the team career
leaders in almost every pitching category and has talked openly about
retiring after this season spend spring training working on a new pitch?

"Because I'm getting old," said Twins right-hander Brad Radke. "I can't go
out there with the same slop every five days."

Actually, it's not so much a new pitch as a new way of using his cut
fastball more often against lefties. It's still a work in progress, but
Radke, who needed a hefty 64 pitches to get through three innings against
Boston on Thursday, said he plans to stick with it into the season.

He gave up two runs on six hits in the 4-3 split-squad loss to the Red
Sox, lowering his spring earned-run average to 6.75, and is scheduled to
make his next start Monday on the minor league side of camp. The plan is
to taper back to between 50 and 60 pitches in that start, then come back
with an extra day's rest in his next start and go up to 70 pitches,
putting him on track for his first start of the season, April 5 in
Toronto.

Briefly: Clubhouse ringleaders Johan Santana and Carlos Silva have
returned to Fort Myers following Venezuela's elimination Tuesday from the
World Baseball Classic. Both showed up in the clubhouse Thursday morning
before a split-squad group headed across town to play the Red Sox. "It's
going to get pretty loud in there now," Radke said.

Silva is scheduled to start Sunday against Tampa Bay. Santana is slated to
go Monday against Philadelphia.

* Jesse Crain continued to look sharp with two more scoreless innings
against the Red Sox, striking out three and allowing just two singles
without a walk. In two appearances since returning from a scoreless WBC
tournament last week, Crain has three shutout innings without a walk and
Thursday's two hits allowed.

* Pitching coach Rick Anderson said reliever Juan Rincon (elbow) continued
to make progress during Thursday's bullpen session. Rincon, coming back
from offseason surgery, is scheduled to throw again Saturday and remains
on track to be game ready by late next week.

* Fox Sports Net North will re-broadcast the Kirby Puckett memorial
service at 2 a.m. Monday.

Posted on Fri, Mar. 17, 2006