After Sunday's announcement that relief pitcher Joel Zumaya was lost for the season and will have to undergo Tommy John surgery, the Minnesota Twins had to move on after the shock of losing Zumaya.
The next question is who will take up the middle-to-late relief innings planned for Zumaya?
Relief pitching is just one question that will need to be answered while Minnesota is in Fort Myers, Fla. FOXSportsNorth.com will track reports from the news outlets already in Florida until March 4, when Tyler Mason will begin covering the team in Fort Myers. Here's a look at some of Sunday's storylines from camp:
Swarzak could take Zumaya's role: Now that Zumaya has been officially ruled out for the season, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson are now trying to see who will step forward among the relief pitching candidates.
Right-hander Anthony Swarzak looks like he could be the answer. General manager Terry Ryan mentioned Swarzak's name as a replacement, according to 1500espn.com. Swarzak enjoyed hearing that, as he looks to carve out a full-time role in Minnesota after splitting time the past few seasons between the Twins and the minors.
"That's great to hear," Swarzak told Phil Mackey of 1500espn.com. "It's a terrible situation for Zumaya. I think our team is better with him on it, honestly.
"I want the ball. I don't care where it is or when it is. I have full confidence in myself that I can get people out, lefties and righties. Hopefully the coaching staff feels the same way and we can take it from there."
Right-handers Alex Burnett, Lester Oliveros, Jason Bulger, Jared Burton, Jeff Gray, Casey Fien, Esmerling Vasquez and left-handers Brian Duensing and Matt Maloney could also factor in as the bridge from the starters to Glen Perkins and closer Matt Capps in the late innings, according to MLB.com.
"It will be interesting to see how some of these guys respond," Ryan told MLB.com. "If I'm one of those guys down in that clubhouse, there's some innings to be had. You want to make the team, let's go. I'm not saying anyone wishes for a guy to get hurt, but you have to take advantage of opportunities. There's one right now, the sixth day of camp."
Gardenhire still needs to take a close look.
"I have no idea what it does for us, because I haven't even gone that far," Gardenhire said. "I didn't plan. We planned on seeing how we got through this thing, and obviously we're not going to get through it with him, so we'll ad-lib from there.
Doumit expects more time in outfield: Gardenhire has already penciled in free-agent signee Ryan Doumit as the starting designated hitter, but Doumit is also going to see more time in the outfield, according to a report from MLB.com.
"He's definitely a catcher," Gardenhire said when asked if he would describe Doumit as a super-utility player. "He's definitely going to be that. I don't know if it's called a backup. He's one of our catchers. He's going to be one of our catchers. He's also going to be a DH and he's also going to play some outfield.
"The bottom line is I want his bat in the lineup. We're going to use his bat, for sure, and he's going to give Joe Mauer the breaks we need. We can keep his bat in the lineup that way and he's also going to play a little outfield, too, and we need that. So I plan on him being an everyday player some way or another."
Doumit, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract, played outfield sparingly while a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played 337 games at catcher the past four seasons with Pittsburgh. He practiced in the outfield Sunday, where he has played just 19 games.
Liriano pleased after throwing batting practice: Left-hander Francisco Liriano threw a 35-pitch live batting practice session on Sunday and was pleased with the results.
"I'm trying not to overthrow, but I'm also beginning to pick it up a little bit," Liriano told MLB.com. "I need to get focused more on the batters, so it was good. I'm trying not to make the perfect pitch. Just throw it and not push it."
Liriano, who will be a key part of the starting rotation, faced Mauer, Brian Dinkelman, Aaron Bates and Sean Burroughs and threw to catcher J.R. Towles, who is trying to win a spot. Burton, Nick Blackburn and Kyle Waldrop also threw during the batting practice.
Hughes starts swinging: Infielder Luke Hughes is battling for one of the final roster spots and started some light swinging on Friday, according to 1500espn.com. He's been fielding groundballs, but hasn't thrown or faced live pitching since injuring his shoulder during the Australian Winter league.
