Souhan; Dozier Turned Himself Into a Power Hitter [PODCAST]

Former Twins 2nd baseball Brian Dozier announced his retirement from baseball at the age of 33 Thursday. Dozier played 7 seasons for the Twins and hit 167 homeruns. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. Jim says Dozier came up as a short stop with some power and ability to hit for power and turned himself into a pull power hitter and gold glove 2nd baseman. After the Twins traded Dozier to the Dodgers in 2018 he became more of a reserve and didn't hit for the some power that he displayed in Minnesota.

Pitchers and catchers reported to Fort Myers, Florida for the Twins this week. Jim says there isn't much for position battles to monitor with most of the roster spot likely claimed. He says he's interested in seeing prospects like Royce Lewis, Trevor Larnach, Brent Rooker, and Jordan Balazovic. Souhan says Lewis is still viewed as a short stop in the organization and it's possible Lewis makes his major league debut this season. Souhan says if Lewis proves to be ready by 2022 he could be the regular short stop for the Twins and they wouldn't bring back Andrelton Simmons.

The Minnesota Wild earned a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night. Jim says the Wild didn't play their best but Anaheim isn't a good team this season. He says the Wild still haven't enough games to determine how good some of their young players like Kevin Fiala or Kirill Kaprizov are.

The Gopher men's basketball team hosts Illinois at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, pregame on WJON at 2:00. Jim says this isn't a must win game but it would put them in a much better position if they can knock off another nationally ranked team and then would likely need to win 2 of their remaining 3.