Posted on Thu, May. 20, 2004
TWINS REPORT: Rivas joins the injured
BY GORDON WITTENMYER
Pioneer Press
TORONTO ? Twins manager Ron Gardenhire didn't get the first word out Wednesday morning, as he scooted his chair closer to his desk, when... Bang!
"Ow!" he yelled, adding a few more words, four letters at a time, until the pain subsided from whacking his ankle against the metal desk.
Ow is right.
And the ankle was the least of the manager's pain on the morning he arrived at the ballpark to discover that not only is his first baseman sidelined with a back injury but his second baseman also came out of Tuesday's game limping with a groin injury.
That meant Doug Mientkiewicz and Luis Rivas joined left fielder Shannon Stewart (right foot) on the list of players not allowed to play or so much as pick up a baseball for practice Wednesday. "Nothing," Gardenhire said. "I don't want to take any chances."
Which meant that for the first time this season, the Twins were down to one player on the bench to start the game.
"I don't even know why we're taking batting practice," Gardenhire said. "That's taking a chance."
And the latest group of walking wounded doesn't count the starting catcher (Joe Mauer) and starting third baseman (Corey Koskie) already on the disabled list.
"You think I didn't stay awake all night long?" Gardenhire said. "It is getting a little demoralizing coming in and seeing everybody in the training room every day."
Unless all three of this week's injured recover in a hurry, the Twins likely will be forced into at least one disabled list move or two today. Hitters at Class AAA Rochester in line for a possible promotion include outfielder Michael Restovich (.260, 10 homers and 28 runs batted in) and first baseman/designated hitter Justin Morneau (.355, nine and 28).
Gardenhire said he would like to avoid putting any of the three on the DL, "but the flip side of that is how many days can you go with only one guy (on the bench)," he said.
Mientkiewicz said his back felt better Wednesday morning, that he was optimistic the injury seemed to be more muscular than spinal. "Hopefully, a couple of days and it'll be doable," he said.
Stewart didn't sound as confident when talking about the plantar fasciitis to the arch of his right foot. Those injuries often are extremely painful and linger for weeks, sometimes months, if not allowed to fully heal.
If medical examinations of the three today leave the team feeling confident any or all could be ready to play in a matter of days, one possibility might be to send one of their extra pitchers out to make room for another bench player. Which appears crucial for the big four-game series against Chicago this weekend.
"I'd like to have more than one guy on the bench with the White Sox coming in," Gardenhire said.
Swingers club: The number of injuries to players in the Twins' lineup might not hurt the bottom line in the boxscore as much as the specific hitters who suddenly are sidelined at the same time.
For the first time this season, the three most disciplined hitters in an otherwise free-swinging lineup ? Stewart, Mientkiewicz and Koskie ? all are absent from the lineup at once.
"So we'll just be undisciplined and swing like hell," Gardenhire said, "and see if we can make something happen."
Briefly: Twins pitcher Rick Helling, originally projected as the fifth starter, makes his fourth, and possibly last, minor league start for the Twins today at Class AA New Britain. Helling, healthy again after a spring training injury and ready to return to the team, has been given permission to talk to other teams while waiting for an opening on the Twins' pitching roster. Several teams are expected to have scouts grade Helling tonight before deciding whether to pursue him.
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Gordon Wittenmyer covers the Twins. He can be reached at
gwittenmyer@pioneerpress.com
