The Voice of the Turtle is Heard in 2021

We are 64 days away from May 4th, the scheduled date of Lansing Lugnuts Opening Day. Temperatures soared into the 50s this weekend in Mid Michigan, and they'll continue to climb next weekend. Spring is on the horizon. More importantly, Spring Training baseball is here.

As Ernie Harwell used to say, "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

The Oakland Athletics, our new MLB partner, lost to the Dodgers, 2-1, a game that saw two former Lugnuts make their A's debut. Right-hander Dany Jiménez, the Nuts' 2018 closer and A's Rule 5 selection this past December, pitched a scoreless inning in relief, and catcher Carlos Pérez, a member of the 2011 and 2012 Nuts, entered the game in the sixth inning and went 0-for-1 with a fly-out to right.

A third former Lugnut to watch for in the coming spring games with the A's is reliever Zach Jackson, who was drafted in the Rule 5 Minor League phase and is likely to make his MLB debut sometime this year if he fares well in Triple-A. It's an awesome coincidence that the Lugnuts and Athletics began their partnership this offseason, and the A's went out and acquired three former Nuts as potential roster contributors.

Dany Jiménez is going to be the most important, since he could well turn out to be a valued member of the A's bullpen moving forward. It was good to hear, then, that Jiménez has already received a good dose of early praise in camp from A's manager Bob Melvin. “I was impressed as much with his breaking ball today as I was with his fastball,” Melvin said, as quoted by Alex Coffey in The Athletic. “He’s got a really good live arm. He’s an upper-velocity guy, but he looked — at least today — that he had maybe even better command of his breaking ball than he did his fastball. And that’s kind of rare for early in camp, especially for a guy that you know is new to a team trying to impress in bullpens.”

A quick round-up of other Lugnuts news and interesting information:

• The Baltimore Orioles' Trey Mancini, who missed 2020 with Stage 3 colon cancer, singled to center field in his first at-bat back.
• The Cardinals and Nationals both wore red, which led to photos like this one.
• Drew Hutchison, who pitched for the Nuts in 2010 and 2011, signed with the Tigers.
• Angel Perdomo, a member of the 2016 Lansing rotation who made his MLB debut last year, worked a perfect inning for the Brewers, striking out.
• Jesús Tinoco (2015) did the same -- a clean inning, a strikeout -- for the Colorado Rockies.
• Kendall Graveman (2013-2014) tossed a scoreless inning, allowing a hit, for the Mariners.
• Jon Berti, a member of the 2012 Lugnuts, went 2-for-2 with a run scored for the Marlins.
• Ryan McBroom (2015) and Edward Olivares (2017) each played for the Royals, with McBroom singling and scoring a run in his lone at-bat.
• 13 Lugnuts suited up for the Blue Jays in a 6-4 win over the Yankees, led by Rowdy Tellez going 2-for-2 with a single, double, and two RBIs. Other names you'd recognize from the box score: Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Jonathan Davis, Jordan Groshans, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Danny Jansen, Otto Lopez, Joshua Palacios, Kevin Smith, Chavez Young, T.J. Zeuch and last but not least, Master of the Invisi-Ball Joey Murray, who generated quite the conversation for his absurd fastball spin rate, twirling a perfect inning with a strikeout. Robinson Chirinos (2003-2004 Nut) saw action for the Yankees in defeat.

Today we can all look forward to Alejandro Kirk, 2019 Lugnuts sensation and current Toronto Blue Jays folk hero, who is scheduled to bat clean-up for the Jays this afternoon. The full Jays lineup, with former Lugnuts italicized and their years in Lansing added:

1. Santiago Espinal, 2B
2. Joe Panik, 3B
3. Rowdy Tellez, 1B | 2014-2015
4. Alejandro Kirk, C | 2019
5. Breyvic Valera, CF
6. Danny Jansen, DH | 2015
7. Forrest Wall, LF
8. Austin Martin, SS
9. Chavez Young, RF | 2018
   Robbie Ray, SP

Let's finish with a nod toward our new Major League partner. Photo above courtesy of Zak Basch and the Oakland Athletics.

Q: Who was the first draft pick in baseball history?

A: Rick Monday, selected No. 1 overall by the Kansas City A's in 1965 out of Arizona State University. Monday made his Major League debut with the A's in 1966 and played in the majors through 1984 with the A's, Cubs, and Dodgers. He now broadcasts games for the Dodgers.

This was considered his greatest play.

Happy Monday!