1 October 2023
DENVER — Kyle Farmer and Jorge Polanco learned they would be unofficially managing the Twins on Saturday at around 3:30 p.m. Twenty minutes later, they were already fulfilling one of Rocco Baldelli’s daily pregame duties: meeting with the media.
On the second-to-last day of the regular season, Baldelli handed over the reins to the two veteran infielders. It’s something Baldelli did one other time, too — on the final day of the 2019 season, utilityman Ehire Adrianza managed the Twins.
“I think it’s an awesome experience for guys that actually have interest in other parts of the game, which both of these guys do,” Baldelli said. “But we’re also going to treat it as though it’s a Major League Baseball game, because it is.”
Though Baldelli wrote out the lineup and the Twins had a number of relievers that needed to get their work in in the planned bullpen game, Baldelli said he planned to talk through all of moves with the two co-managers. As one of their duties, the pair exchanged the lineup card at home plate before the game.
“I’m going to get those guys involved and talk through what we’re going to do,” Baldelli said before the game. “There are a lot of considerations with every move that we make, and I want them to hear it all.”
A big part of the reason Baldelli chose those two, he said, was because of their professed interest in staying in the game once their playing careers come to a conclusion.
That may not be for a while yet, but Saturday gave them a glimpse into what the future could be like if they do decide to go down that path.
“I’d like to stay in the game in any way possible,” Farmer said. “Managing would be cool. Be a lot of fun and a very hard job. Something I’d like to look forward to and hopefully test the waters tonight.”
Though neither were in the starting lineup on Saturday, Farmer said if he saw a lefty getting warming up, he would tell Polanco to go get loose.
“How about this? If a lefty comes in, I’m putting you in,” Polanco retorted, to which Farmer responded that Polanco was a switch hitter, so he could come in at any point.
Farmer also had something else on his mind, saying “I really hope so,” when asked about the possibility of getting ejected on Saturday night.
“Rocco puts on a good show, but you should see the show I put on,” Farmer said.
While the two relished the opportunity they had on Saturday in Denver, there was someone back home who had been lobbying for the change to manage for a day for “a little while now,” Baldelli said. That was Carlos Correa, back in the Twin Cities while on the injured list with plantar fasciitis. Baldelli texted the shortstop a photo of the two co-managers doing their media session and said Correa would get his opportunity at some point down the line.
“Should have kept his feet healthy,” Farmer quipped.