\n\tAnother Twins spring training has come and gone, and although every spring brings new storylines, a select few tend to reappear again and again. It\u2019s time to hand out Twins Daily\u2019s Golden Grapefruit Awards, presented by Greggory T. Masterson of the Twins Off-Daily Podcast, a Twins Daily subsidiary, sponsored by No One, Are You Insane?.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tMiguel San\u00f3<\/a> Memorial “Best Shape of His Life” Award: Brooks Lee<\/a> \n\tWell, too bad for Shelton, we provide unbiased, independent coverage, and we\u2019re not afraid to ruffle some feathers, awarding Brooks Lee the Best Shape of his Life Award. Lee showed up weighing the same amount as last season, but the weight has been \u201cbetter proportioned\u201d as he has tried to improve his lateral foot speed and quickness in hopes of improving his defense at shortstop. Congratulations, Brooks!\n<\/p>\n \n\tPrevious winners:\u00a0Jhoan Duran<\/a> (2025), Byron Buxton<\/a> (2024), Jos\u00e9 Miranda<\/a> (2023)\n<\/p>\n \n\t“Newest Pitch” Award:\u00a0Connor Prielipp<\/a> \n\tThere was one notable pitch added, though: Connor Prielipp added a curveball. Prielipp, who is fighting to remain a starter, has been working on adding a fourth pitch to complement his fastball, slider, and changeup. He\u2019s already tried mixing in a sinker, and it looks like the Twins are also working with him on a curveball with more depth and glove-side movement than his gyro slider. Here\u2019s hoping it helps him remain a rotation option!\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tPrevious winners: Jorge Alcala<\/a> (2025), Joe Ryan<\/a> (2024, 2023),\u00a0Griffin Jax<\/a> (2023)\n<\/p>\n \n\t“Most Revamped Swing” Award:\u00a0Matt Wallner<\/a> \n\tThis offseason, he made an effort to simplify his swing, working to expand the range of pitches he can damage without sacrificing the power his offensive profile is built on. To date, none of the Most Revamped Swing winners have turned around their offensive performance, but none of them have had the floor Wallner established last season.\n<\/p>\n \n\tPrevious winners:\u00a0Ty France<\/a> (2025), Brooks Lee (2024), Max Kepler<\/a> (2023)\n<\/p>\n \n\t“Weirdest Injury” Award:\u00a0Pablo L\u00f3pez<\/a> \n\tSadly, there were no ha-ha funny injuries this spring. There was an existentially funny injury, though.\n<\/p>\n \n\tJust hours into spring training, Pablo L\u00f3pez exited the mound with soreness in his arm. Within days, it would be determined that the Twins\u2019 ace had a torn ulnar collateral ligament and would miss the entire season. Really. The first day, the first practice, just hours into camp. Not funny, but pretty funny.\n<\/p>\n \n\tPrevious winners: Mickey Gasper<\/a> (stepped on playing second base, 2025), Pete Maki (ruptured bicep doing pullups, 2024),\u00a0Jordan Balazovic (broken jaw, bar fight, 2023)\n<\/p>\n \n\t“Honey, Grab My Program” Award:\u00a0Kyler Fedko<\/a> \n\tOnly players who have never appeared in MLB and are not on the 40-man roster qualify for this award. Both Kyler Fedko and Tanner Schobel<\/a> appeared in 18 games, tied for the most on the team, including big leaguers. Fedko amassed 25 plate appearances, though, and had a few starts, so he wins this year.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFedko played all three outfield spots and first base, providing real coverage. He may have been the biggest surprise last season, nearly accumulating a 30-30 season in the minors, but he struggled in his opportunities this spring, batting just .130. Already 26, he may debut this season, though none of the other winners of this award were still in the organization the following season.\n<\/p>\n \n\tPrevious winners: Jeferson Morales<\/a> (2025), Chris Williams<\/a> (2024),\u00a0Andrew Bechtold<\/a> (2023)\n<\/p>\n \n\t“First Clich\u00e9 Statement” Award:\u00a0Bailey Ober<\/a> \n\tAs far as I can tell, Ober was among the first, if not the first, player to be interviewed this spring. When asked if he needed to win a rotation job, he said, \u201cI always enjoy proving to myself that I’m here and that I every single day continue to try and get better and not necessarily be complacent with what I have. I’m always pushing myself and trying to be the best I can be, do whatever means necessary to accomplish that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tEveryone\u2019s always excited to do the work on February 12. We\u2019ll see if it paid off.\n<\/p>\n
If you close your eyes and look up spring training clich\u00e9s in the dictionary, this is what you see\u2014er, after you open your eyes again. Every spring, one guy or another shows up 15 pounds lighter or with an alleged 40 pounds of muscle. It\u2019s such a clich\u00e9 that Twins manager Derek Shelton<\/a> actually requested that no one use the words \u201cbest shape of his life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
This spring, there was little news of new pitches among Twins pitchers. Maybe it\u2019s because everyone was more concerned with who was pitching (or who wasn\u2019t pitching) than they were about what those pitchers were throwing. There was no big story about six guys learning a splitter at Driveline or anything.\n<\/p>\n
Matt Wallner was probably the Twin most fans were convinced needed a swing overhaul this offseason, even after his 110 OPS+ last season. One of the biggest issues Wallner dealt with last season was his performance against fastballs in the upper third of the zone.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
For some reason, it seems like every spring some very stupid injury occurs, like Byron Buxton chipping his tooth eating steak or Jordan Balazovic<\/a> being sucker-punched at a Fort Myers bar.\n<\/p>\n
Somewhere between the 4th and 7th inning in nearly every spring training game, a wave of players wearing number 87 with no name on the back of their jersey take over for the big-leaguers. Every year, there are a couple of guys who do so in almost every game. Sometimes it\u2019s for positional flexibility, other times they\u2019re top prospects. And other times, the team doesn\u2019t really have any other center fielders to play instead of them.\n<\/p>\n
We\u2019d like to take a moment of silence to mourn the trade of Carlos Correa<\/a>, who (if he were still in a Twins jersey) would have surely been the betting favorite for this award. Alas, Correa had no opportunity to avenge his 2025 loss. Instead, this award goes to an unlikely winner, one Bailey Ober.\n<\/p>\n