Twins constantly adapting to atypical workouts

MINNEAPOLIS -- Even as the Twins do all they can to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 entering their clubhouse, players understand that there's no way to fully guarantee their personal safety as baseball prepares for an unprecedented season amid a pandemic.

Players are tested regularly. They spend minimal time indoors and wear masks throughout the day. In some aspects, camp appears more normal from a baseball standpoint as pitchers and hitters alike have reported to Minneapolis in strong playing condition. Some, like Josh Donaldson and Kenta Maeda, have downplayed their concerns. But others, like Mitch Garver and some unnamed teammates, still have reservations.

"The way that it's been going for the Twins, at least, I think that we've done a really good job," Garver said. "With that being said, I think guys -- there are still concerns."

"I don’t think anybody is super comfortable right now," Jake Odorizzi said. "How comfortable can you be when you’re going around, running around with [a mask] on, and doing everything? When it comes to the everyday baseball aspect of it, comfort is probably the last word that comes to mind, but we’re doing what we have to do to get ready. I don’t know if there will ever be a point of us being comfortable this year."

Garver noted, for example, that several unnamed teammates have been reluctant to enter the weight room while more than five people are inside -- which could result in some players simply having to skip their scheduled workout for the day. Another issue he raised was the notion that these tests don't have 100 percent sensitivity or specificity, leading to potentially misleading results at times.

Test accuracy is a particularly relevant point at the moment, as Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers notably tested positive, then negative, then positive again in a short span of time leading up to the club's announcement of his results on Monday.

And Garver is all too aware of the fact that this season is a health gamble for him given how little has been established about possible long-term effects of the virus on player health -- even if an affected individual does recover without symptoms becoming too pronounced.

"We don't know anything about this," Garver said. "This is only six or seven months old in the United States, really. There's not enough information out there for us to feel completely safe. It feels like a lot of guys are going out there with the idea that they are going to get sick and everything is going to be fine when it’s over. But we don't know.

"I don't think the doctors really know the effects it could have on symptomatic vs. asymptomatic people, people with underlying conditions. We don't really know. So it's almost like you can go out there and roll the dice and see what happens. It would be terrible for something to happen to somebody under these circumstances."

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli acknowledged the difficulty of preparing for a season from a baseball standpoint while players also worried about their health and the associated logistical concerns at the ballpark. He emphasized the importance of open communication about any issues that players and staff encounter, as the organization hopes to address as many of those problems as it can at the ballpark.

"We want to get to the point where we’re comfortable with where we’re at in every way so we can focus on the baseball aspect of it," Baldelli said. "And sometimes that’s hard to do, and we’re all working on it. So yes, we’ve talked with our guys. We’ve also encouraged our guys, and I know we’ve mentioned this on previous calls, to communicate better than they ever have."

Twins to introduce "bells and whistles" for simulated games

Though the Twins will begin intrasquad games at Target Field on Wednesday, Baldelli noted that he and his staff will bring out the "bells and whistles" at the ballpark to better simulate game conditions from Thursday's game on. That will include stripping away some of the netting and observational equipment from behind home plate and moving more of the observers to the dugout to eliminate factors that would not be present during a season.

They could also have music and sound effects playing from the stadium's sound system in a manner that better approximates a game experience. The staff is still trying to figure out how to best approach these situations, with more than two weeks' worth of games upcoming ahead of the club's scheduled exhibition against the Cubs on July 22.

"Really just experimenting and taking advantage of the Spring Training environment to figure out what's going to work best," Baldelli said. "In addition to all that, we always say someone's going to figure something out in the league and have a really great, creative idea, and it's only going to take a game for everyone to kind of see it and realize it, and probably not long before other people mimic it and take it to their own stadium."

Twins tidbits

• Though the Cardinals, Nationals and Astros had to cancel their Monday workouts due to turnaround issues with COVID-19 tests, the Twins have had a relatively smooth camp with regard to testing logistics, as confirmed by Baldelli, Garver and Rogers on Monday. The Twins' most recent round of testing took place on Sunday.

• Rich Hill and Homer Bailey both threw live batting practice on Monday. Baldelli and his staff paid particularly close attention to Hill, who is completing his recovery from an offseason "primary repair" procedure in his pitching elbow. The left-hander threw four simulated innings, as compared to the three innings for most other starters at this point in camp, which Baldelli said was an indication of Hill's intense work ethic during baseball's hiatus.