Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor offered the following injury updates during his pregame media availability prior to Tuesday night’s game.
Robbie Grossman is progressing nicely from his hamstring injury and could return before the end of the week.
“(He’s) doing good,” Molitor said. “I watched him work out today. He had a full workout today. He threw, he took balls in the outfield. He ran the bases, took a lot of swings.”
There hasn’t been much in the way of hiccups for Grossman, who went down during last Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.
“The progress has been steady since he went down with the hamstring injury,” Molitor said. “We’ll see how he does the next couple days with the option of potentially being activated by Thursday.”
Molitor added that the team hadn’t discussed it with Grossman yet, but a short rehab stint remained a distinct possibility.
Byron Buxton was activated at Triple-A Rochester and in the lineup batting leadoff as the Red Wings prepared to take on Columbus.
“For the most part, the BP sessions over the past handful of days have gone well,” Molitor said of Buxton. “I think with him being in the lineup there tonight, we’ll see how it goes.
“We talk a lot about, particularly with wrist injuries, you’re just not sure how it’s gonna go when you have to face live pitching and getting fooled and all those types of things that come with a game situation.
“We’re gonna probably not try to rush him in there, as far as playing every day. Maybe every other day here, at least until the end of the week, and then start trying to increase if the health holds up.”
Adalberto Mejia, who was put on the disabled list with a left wrist strain on Aug. 10, is now battling with issues further up into his elbow area.
It’s still unclear where and what the injury is exactly, and he’s not likely to pitch again this season.
“(We) did some MRI tests yesterday,” Molitor said. “We’re still kinda going with the whole idea of the nerve problem that’s causing issues with that left arm. There’s gonna be another test, I can’t remember the initials that describe it, but that will be, I think, on Thursday.”
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Now with that out of the way, let’s get to your questions!
I do. I think he’ll spend the next three weeks or so with Rochester, then come up with the rest of the September call-ups to get his feet wet and hopefully wash away some of the memories of what has been an utterly forgettable season.
If he’s healthy, I just can’t see a justifiable reason to leave him in Rochester for the rest of the season, then send him home in early September when their season ends.
Six.
Feel like I answered this once already, but in the park, I’m a big fan of Kramarczuk’s sausages and Red Cow burgers. Outside of the park, I’m really not as much of an expert.
I like Pizza Luce — which is really close to the park — but outside of that, I’m pretty out of my element. I really like this Vietnamese lunch spot “Bep” in the skyway a few blocks from Target Field — get the pho — or else there’s a solid Italian place close to there called Sorrento Cucina Due.
Everywhere else — Matt’s Bar, Fogo de Chao, etc. — that you’ll find when you Google best restaurants in Minneapolis all apply, too. But these are some of my favorite places.
I can’t see him signing a one-year deal, but there would be no better place to add value if you were a hitter looking to bounce back. With that said, I think Harper more likely signs a long-term deal with an extremely player-friendly opt-out after three years — a la Jason Heyward — to protect himself and his future earnings.
Maybe something like 10 years, $280-$300 million, front-loaded at $35 million per for the first three years with an opt-out?
And in that case, I don’t think Colorado will get into that.
I think it’s very possible Arenado gets moved this offseason, though it comes at a bad time for the Rockies to try to get value with a good free-agent class coming out this winter.
Ironically enough, it’s the situation that played out with one of the biggest free agents this offseason. Manny Machado and the Baltimore Orioles got into a stalemate, and ultimately they ended up trading him for less than he was worth with the team absolutely bottomed out.
I’m not sure I can see the Pirates 40-some games under .500 at next year’s trade deadline — or whatever it was for the Orioles a couple weeks ago — but look at how their reliever signings have panned out this offseason.
They could easily get buried in the NL West, where the Dodgers are always going to be a threat, the Giants are fairly good and so are the Diamondbacks and the Padres have a decent young core with uber-prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. waiting in the wings, too.
Finally….yes. I hope we get to see more #WhiteRhinoooooo.
I try to be really even-keeled about this sort of thing. It’s hard for me to adequately judge what these people have seen in their lives because the world they see on a daily basis is not the same world I do.
Are there parts of these movements that I don’t agree with, particularly the militant parts? Sure. But if I don’t understand protesting, it’s because I’ve never had to protest anything in my life. I consider myself fortunate for that.
Would I like to see everyone stand for the Star Spangled Banner? Absolutely. But people have their reasons not to, and I respect that.
But for the people who automatically assume it’s a direct protest of the troops, I’d have to disagree with that. And honestly, is kneeling for the anthem really more disrespectful than getting hammered under the guise of celebrating the Fourth of July or Memorial Day?
At the end of the day, I have more questions than answers, and I hope someone with more wisdom than me can someday articulate this in a more intelligent way than I can.
One thing I struggle with is if he’ll have the durability to make 30 starts at any point. He’s battled some arm issues but also missed time with mononucleosis, but has also managed to bounce back nicely after literally missing two full seasons. Even despite that, he was more than two full years (2.2) younger than his average contemporary in the Southern League this year, and he’s now slated to make his Triple-A debut for the Red Wings on Wednesday.
They’ll give him every chance to start, and by 2020 he’ll not only be out of options, but probably built up to 180 innings if he can stay healthy in the meantime.
If he can’t, he’s had enough success — in small spurts, of course — against right-handed hitters that I could see him developing into a multi-inning, late-game relief weapon.
He’s good.
Nightmare fuel.
But no, really, I’m not totally sure what they’re trying to accomplish here. They’re trying to add another mascot to run the races at every home game in *I think* the fourth inning? But is this the best they could come up with? This reminds me of the Garbage Pail Kids from back in the Cabbage Patch days. I’m still not totally convinced these weren’t meant as a joke.
Was a roll of 3M scotch tape not a consideration? A box of General Mills cereal? C’mon people!
I think he’ll probably sign a one-year pillow deal to show he’s healthy and try to hit the market again after 2019. One year, $8ish million? I’d probably do that.
The first one that comes to mind is putting Byron Buxton on the disabled list with migraines, and even that wasn’t totally foreseeable. With a three-man bench, they couldn’t really wait for him to be healthy again once they came back from Puerto Rico.
While he was on that rehab stint, he fouled the ball off his foot and the rest is history.
Other than that, maybe the Ervin Santana timetable? Even that wasn’t egregious since they protected themselves by signing Lance Lynn on a reasonable deal that just didn’t work out.
Otherwise, a lot of the stuff that has happened this season has been due to dumb luck, injuries and some guys making poor decisions off the field. I’m open to suggestions to change my mind, though.
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