Thursday

Guess what?
It's spring training at McKechnie Field, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing the Minnesota Twins.
Again.
This is the third of a seven-part series this spring for these two teams, and seeing as how the Reds will be in Arizona, I envision even more Twins-Pirates matchups in 2010.
For now, however, let's focus on this one.
Twins:
Denard Span, rf
Matt Tolbert, 2b
Carlos Gomez, cf
Delmon Young, lf
Danny Valencia, 3b
Brock Peterson, dh
Matt Macri, 1b
Wilson Ramos, c
Trevor Plouffe, ss
Scott Baker, p

I like Carlos Gomez a lot...he's fast and exciting and he's a big reason the Twins dealt Johan Santana to the New York Mets.

Pirates:
Nate McLouth, cf
Freddy Sanchez, 2b
Ryan Doumit, c
Adam LaRoche, 1b
Craig Monroe, rf
Steve Pearce, dh
Jose Tabata, lf
Neil Walker, 3b
Jack Wilson, ss
Virgil Vasquez, p

Steve Pearce sighting! We have a Steve Pearce sighting! He's been limited to five at-bats this spring with a sore calf...and we shall see if Vasquez's stuff is as sharp as his hair.

First pitch in about three hours.