MILWAUKEE -- Rocco Baldelli got the chance to pencil in Luis Arraez atop his Opening Day lineup and to move Max Kepler down in the batting order.

That's how Mike Bell thought it should be.

The memories of the Twins' late bench coach loomed large in Baldelli's heart as he prepared for Thursday's Opening Day matchup against the Brewers, mere hours after he had arrived from Arizona, where he'd attended Bell's memorial service with Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine.

With Arraez hitting leadoff, Bell's influence on the Twins will live on.

"It was something he felt strongly about," Baldelli said. "He felt [Kepler] was a guy that could hit really anywhere near the top of the lineup against right-handers, but could drive in some runs and put him in a more prominent middle-of-the-order spot and we might see some really good things. And he’s always been a big fan of Luis in the leadoff spot, too."

For much of the last two seasons, Baldelli used Kepler as his leadoff hitter against right-handed pitchers and Mitch Garver in that role against left-handers, citing the quality of Kepler's at-bats. But this spring, Arraez emerged in a more prominent leadoff role for the first time -- and that appears to be here to stay as Arraez shuffles between left field, second base and third base in search of consistent playing time.

It helps that Arraez owns a career .331/.390/.429 slash line, consistently makes line drive contact -- his 37.3 percent line-drive rate ranked third on the 2020 Twins -- and is often a tough out due to his keen eye at the plate.

"With the kind of at-bats he has, it’s hard not to want Luis in the lineup every day," Baldelli said.

Kepler was never the prototypical leadoff hitter, either by old-school or new-school standards, but the Twins used him there to considerable success as part of the 2019 "Bomba Squad." He'll still factor in as an option.

But Bell's input looms large.

"I think that was something else that factored in, in a pretty major way," Baldelli said.

Cruz's usage to be dictated by game flow

Baldelli and his staff racked their brains to figure out if there was any possible way they could get Nelson Cruz more than three at-bats during this three-game Interleague series.

The answer is still almost certainly "no," but Baldelli will be actively looking for ways to work his best hitter into the game.

"I don't want to overcomplicate the discussion, but Nelson's one of the best hitters in the game, and you want to find a way to put him up there when it matters the most if he's getting three at-bats over the course of three days," Baldelli said. "And we're going to hit him."

Cruz always travels to National League ballparks with an outfielder's glove, a second baseman's glove and a first baseman's mitt -- but they'll likely sit idle once again. He'll be relegated to bench duty, and his usage will depend on the flow of the game, though Baldelli said he'll look to get the 40-year-old into the batter's box every day, even if the ideal game situation doesn't come up.

Cruz will be the club's biggest right-handed bat off the bench considering his team-leading 16 homers and .992 OPS last season, but the Twins will also have Ryan Jeffers available as a power option, Willians Astudillo in a contact situation and Jake Cave against a righty.

"I'll prepare myself like I'm going to play," Cruz said.