Inside The Twins

Byron Buxton, Eddy Julien homer in Twins' spring training win over Pirates

The Twins' penultimate game of spring training was a well-rounded victory.

Will Ragatz

Sep 25, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Miami Marlins in the fourth inning at Target Field.
Sep 25, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Miami Marlins in the fourth inning at Target Field. / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
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The Twins appear to be ready for the real games to begin. Bailey Ober and several relievers were sharp, Byron Buxton and Edouard Julien homered, and Minnesota beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 in the penultimate game of spring training on Monday afternoon in Fort Myers, FL.

The Twins broke this game open in the bottom of the second inning with five hits and four runs, all of which were charged to Pirates starter Thomas Harrington. Ryan Jeffers singled, Jose Miranda doubled, and Julien drove a fastball over the wall in left field for a three-run home run — his second big fly of the spring. Julien has had an encouraging spring (.799 OPS), and after injuries to Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, he'll be needed in a significant role early this season.

A Ty France double off the right-field wall and a Carlos Correa RBI single created a fourth run for the Twins in the frame. Then, in the fifth inning, Buxton demolished a David Bednar fastball for a long home run to left-center.

It's the second titanic home run in as many starts for Buxton, who hit one an estimated 437 feet against the Blue Jays on Saturday. There was no Statcast distance on Monday's homer, but it appeared to be in that same range. Buxton is up to three home runs this spring, has an OPS of 1.007, and looks ready to go as the Twins' No. 3 hitter for Opening Day in St. Louis on Thursday. As has been the case for the past few years, he has MVP-level upside if he can just manage to stay healthy for a full season.

Jeffers had a pair of hits for the Twins and France went 3 for 3 at the plate, continuing his incredible spring training production. With one game left to play, France leads all Twins hitters with a .477 batting average and 1.261 OPS.

Ober got the start for Minnesota in a final tune-up before he makes his regular season debut at Busch Stadium this weekend. He allowed two hits, one walk, and one run across 3.1 innings, striking out two. He threw 43 pitches. Ober finishes his spring with an outstanding 1.77 ERA across 20.1 innings.

Six members of the Twins' projected Opening Day bullpen — Danny Coulombe, Louis Varland, Jorge Alcala, Cole Sands, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran — combined to throw five scoreless innings with ten strikeouts. Encouragingly, Duran struck out three in the ninth inning and saw his fastball velocity peak at 101.3. He looks ready to go as well.

The Twins will conclude spring training against the Rockies on Tuesday afternoon. Then it's time to break camp and head to St. Louis to begin the 162-game marathon of the 2025 season.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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