Hanley Ramirez is now available to answer all your questions on Twitter.
The Marlins All-Star shortstop joined the social media network on Wednesday and in less than 24 hours has already picked up more than 4,000 followers.
"He's definitely going to take over as the most popular Marlin on Twitter," said left fielder Logan Morrison, currently the most popular Marlin on Twitter with nearly 12,000 followers.
Ramirez said he was up all night Wednesday answering questions and interacting with fans. Among his first tweets (@HanleyRamirez): "Come on fans show me some H2R love (EL NIÑO)."
Of course, not everybody was nice. One question posed by a rather bold fan: Are you going to hustle this year? Ramirez's response: "Sure all day."
"I'm having fun with it," Ramirez said Thursday morning, moments after tweeting a picture of himself with his new shoes. "The fans get to know you man. When I get tired, I'll just delete it."
Morrison is definitely the most active Marlin on Twitter. He's got over 5,000 tweets since joining it last year.
"I like the interaction, seeing guys who put out fun stuff like LoMo facts," Morrison said. "They were basically Chuck Norris jokes. One of them was LoMo would never have a heart attack, his heart is never foolish enough to attack him. It's interesting, fun. It's just throwing out a bunch of stuff like that. Other than watching American Idol, that's what I was doing last night."
A few other Marlins have Twitter accounts:
- First baseman Gaby Sanchez (@GabySanchez15)
- Outfielder Mike Stanton (@MikeStanton27)
- Outfielder Bryan Petersen (@Peteypipes)
- Catcher John Baker (@manbearwolf)
- Catcher Brett Hayes (@brett_hayes)
A club spokesman said he addressed the team about how to handle Twitter and other social media outlets such as Facebook.
So, in light of a long night for Ramirez, should there be a Twitter curfew?
"That's something you'll have to ask the team," Morrison said. "But nothing good happens past 1 a.m. anyway."
> Backup infielder Donnie Murphy, who participated in a live batting practice Wednesday for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right wrist, said he expects to start getting a few pinch hit opportunities about a week into the spring training schedule.
"Two at-bats every other day is nothing crazy, it's not going to do much damage," said Murphy, a non-roster invitee who hit .318 with three homers and 16 RBI last season in 29 games for the Marlins -- including a walk-off home run against the Rockies.
"When the games come around and they want to use me in those situations, I think it's a go. The way [trainer Sean Cunningham] made it sound, it's not going to be any different for me than last year. I only had 36 at-bats last year in spring training and I was ready to go."
Murphy is out of options and will have to be released if he doesn't make the team.
"I think they saw what I did last year," Murphy said. "I'm not trying to put too much pressure on myself in spring training. I think they're confident with what they saw last year. Of course, I want to be on this team, but at the same time I have to be smart and not push it too much, make sure it's right before I do anything."
> One noticeable difference between former second baseman Dan Uggla and new second baseman Omar Infante -- noise.
"He's definitely quiet," first baseman Gaby Sanchez said of Infante. "Uggla was much more of a talker. Omar's quiet, but he goes out, does all his work. That's all we can ask for."
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