Notes: Romo's antics 'an in-game experience'

MINNEAPOLIS -- Sergio Romo never needs an excuse to show off his flamboyant, fun-loving personality at the ballpark.

"Sergio all by himself is an in-game experience," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli claimed last week.

That was in reference to the veteran reliever's antics during the club's second intrasquad scrimmage of Summer Camp, when the Twins tried to more closely resemble game conditions by using the stadium scoreboard, playing walk-up music and showing in-game highlights between innings. During all the silent periods of action in between, Romo punctuated the silences with a constant stream of hooting, hollering and jabber from the bullpens in left-center field.

With the vast majority of the league set to have games in empty stadiums, with television and radio as the outside world's only live tethers to the in-game experience, there could be a unique opportunity for that sort of on-field personality and fun to shine in 2020. Romo said he already has grand plans for that.

"I think you’ll see more personalities," Romo said. "I think you’ve seen more personality in just the scrimmage games, and even watching other teams competing against themselves, watching the smiles. ... I can see that happening a little bit more. I can see guys from other teams, guys we have personal relationships with, I can see a little more interaction in that respect."

Whether for the fans or for the players themselves, moments of levity and enjoyment in baseball could be particularly meaningful considering the abnormal circumstances in the world outside of the game due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Given that levity and enjoyment are Romo's personal specialties, he's already tried to help his teammates adjust to the trash-talking and trading of fun jabs to come. During that game last Thursday, Romo said he kept it "PG-13" with his teammates, of course, focusing his yells on how much he loved them and how they should all call him at the fake phone number that he yelled out loud.

"Letting my teammates know that those things could be said by the other side, and they’re going to be way more harsher than I was," Romo said. "I’ve got a couple tricks during the season; I’ve got a couple ideas for the season. Definitely PG-13, because I know there’s good people watching. It’ll be fun."

He already has ideas for better engagement with the fans, too.

Perhaps there will be some artistic signage in the Twins' bullpen -- spaced six feet apart, of course -- expressing support for the team. Perhaps Romo will find ways to converse or otherwise communicate with fans during the game from the bullpen. Suffice it to say that Romo's creativity knows no bounds.

"I need my bullpen-mates to buy in," Romo said. "I won’t venture to say that I’m the bullpen leader, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got a decent amount of influence in there."

Romo's overall message was that baseball needs to remain fun for everyone, even in the midst of a pandemic -- and these games could offer a more unique opportunity for that than ever before.

"I will be heard during the games [and] I will not be the only one," Romo said. "That is guaranteed. There are guys out there in this league that are way more witty than I am. They'll come up with some cool stuff. I’m telling you, there are a lot of fun guys in this league. That will have to be shown more this year, in my opinion.

"We've still got to enjoy this, we've still got to entertain, we've still got to make baseball what it is. It’s a great sport that gives a lot of entertainment. It’s a fun sport to watch, in my eyes. Let’s make it fun. Let’s keep it fun, actually."

Hitting rules the day in reversal from earlier intrasquad games
It shouldn't have come as much surprise that the Twins' starters carried a competitive advantage over their position-player counterparts for the first few days of Summer Camp intrasquad games, as José Berríos, Randy Dobnak, Homer Bailey, Rich Hill and Sean Poppen all tossed scoreless outings in Minnesota's first turn around the starting rotation.

It also shouldn't have come as much surprise that this lineup was too good to be held down for too long.

As hitters continued to adjust once more to the tempo of live pitching and gain comfort in the batter's box, Berríos and Dobnak both struggled on Monday, as neither reached the planned five innings on the mound due to elevated pitch counts and a combined 17 hits off the pair of right-handers by the newly rejuvenated offense. That included a pair of homers off Dobnak by Nelson Cruz and Luis Arraez.

"I am a little bit disappointed with my fastball to the glove side," Berríos said. "That didn't come out very well today. Other than that, I feel good with the changeup. Good breaking ball. I'm happy, because our hitters are swinging better. That's a good sign for us as a team."

Twins tidbits
• The Twins had two umpires on hand for an intrasquad game for the first time this Summer Camp on Monday, with St. Paul native and Bethel University graduate Jeff Nelson behind home plate for the contest.