LAKELAND, FLA. -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been as impressed as anybody by shortstop Brian Dozier this spring, but it sounds like the team intends to start Dozier at Class AAA this year -- unless Jamey Carroll or Alexi Casilla gets injured.

"[Dozier's] not going to sit on the bench when we signed Jamey Carroll, I’ll tell you that," Gardenhire said. "He’s not going to sit up here and be a utility man. He’s too good."

Later, Gardenhire added: "I wouldn’t keep [Dozier] here as a utility guy, but to play [every day]? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be afraid of that at all, to tell you the truth."

Dozier isn't on the 40-man roster yet, which will actually extend his time in major league camp. Teams usually send down the guys on the 40-man roster in mid-March to avoid having to put them on the major league disabled list if they get injured.

"If [Dozier] were on the roster, there’s a good chance he would be down there right now because they wouldn’t allow me to keep him," Gardenhire said.

Dozier has yet to play above Class AA, but on Monday, GM Terry Ryan cited Chuck Knoblauch as an example of a player who skipped right from Class AA to the majors.

"That’s why we’re going to wait another couple weeks and see what happens here," Gardenhire said. "See what happens out there in the middle, and see how we get through things. It could change in one second here. It could change with a ground ball off the lips, just like you saw with [Tigers] third baseman [Miguel Cabrera]."

Young's still thriving with the Tigers

Delmon Young is batting .485 (16-for-33) with four homers, four doubles and 18 RBI this spring, picking up right where he left off last October for the Tigers.

I caught up with Young yesterday, after he connected for a home run off Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens, and we talked about the benefits of hitting in a lineup like Detroit’s.

After getting traded from the Twins last August, Young immediately found himself in the No. 3 spot in Detroit’s batting order, right in front of Miguel Cabrera.

Now that the Tigers have added Prince Fielder, their plan when Cabrera comes back from his broken cheek bone, is to have Cabrera, Fielder and Young bat 3-4-5, with Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta in the 6-7 spots.

“I’ve got two MVP candidates [Cabrera and Fielder] in front of me and two All-Stars [Avila and Peralta] behind me,” Young said. “You always want a lineup that can do a lot of damage from 1-to-9. That’s what this lineup’s capable of doing. We’ve just got to carry it into the regular season.”

The Tigers are 13-2-3 this spring. None of the results really matter now, but this is confirming what everybody knows: Detroit is the clear favorite in the AL Central.

“We’ve got a very good lineup, we’ve got a great pitching staff, and a great bullpen,” Young said. “We’re just going to go out there and play as a team and see where team baseball can get us.”

Another TV game

Today's game will be televised on Fox Sports North, and it'll be a good test for Liam Hendriks, who will be making his first start of the spring. Nick Blackburn is pitching in a minor-league game back in Fort Myers, Fla.

TWINS (11-8)

1. Denard Span, CF

2. Jamey Carroll, SS

3. Danny Valencia, 3B

4. Chris Parmelee, 1B

5. Ryan Doumit, C

6. Luke Hughes, DH

7. Joe Benson, RF

8. Ben Revere, LF

9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Pitching: Liam Hendriks, Sam Deduno, Matt Maloney, Jeff Gray, Brendan Wise, Casey Fien.

TIGERS (13-2-3)

1. Austin Jackson, CF

2. Brennan Boesch, RF

3. Clete Thomas, DH

4. Prince Fielder, 1B

5. Delmon Young, LF

6. Alex Avila, C

7. Jhonny Peralta, SS

8. Brandon Inge, 3B

9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

Pitching: Andy Oliver, Adam Wilk, Duane Below, Octavio Dotel.

Joker Marchant Stadium. First pitch: 12:05 p.m. (Central). Fox Sports North. No Twins radio.

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