The Twins spent the offseason in part building out their depth, and that depth is being tested immediately.
Max Kepler has landed on the injured list with patellar tendinitis, Joey Gallo is out of the lineup with an intercostal issue, Carlos Correa is now dealing with back spasms and Byron Buxton is limited for now to a designated hitter role.
And that’s not even to mention Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff, who remain in Fort Myers, Fla., as they continue to rehab from long-term injuries.
“You always anticipate,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You have to anticipate it. If we didn’t anticipate it, we wouldn’t have all these good players to be able to fill in and play in these spots for the guys that are out. We wanted to be prepared. You’re never going to be able to prepare for everything, but I think we’re about as prepared as you can be.”
Correa said his back first started bothering him in the second inning of Saturday’s game, when he slowed down and swerved to avoid a collision at the plate.
He described the issue as a spasm in his middle back, something he hasn’t dealt with ever in his career. Correa has been sidelined by back issues in the past, but those, he said, were his lower back, which feels fine right now.
“I should be good in a couple days but want to make sure that I don’t play through it and it gets worse,” Correa said. “It shouldn’t be anything to alarm me.”
Correa expressed hope that he could be back as soon as Tuesday. Sunday, he said, his back was more sore, but it was feeling better on Monday before the game.
Buxton, who had season-ending knee surgery last year, was out of the lineup on Monday, as well, though he came in late to pinch hit. Baldelli said he will continue to get days off “here and there,” saying that during every week that Buxton plays, he would likely have a day off his feet “probably at least once, even if everything is going well.”
As for Gallo, who left Friday’s game early and has not played since, Baldelli said pregame Monday that he expected it would still be “a matter of days,” before the first baseman/outfielder returned.
That left the Twins thin on position players for Monday’s game. But having a number of versatile players has helped the Twins maneuver around all the early-season bumps and bruises.
“Looking up and seeing Kyle Farmer playing shortstop is a good feeling. You know he’s going to go out there and do his job well,” Baldelli said. “We have other guys that are versatile that can go play all over the plate, so you have your Nick Gordon bouncing around. You have (Willi) Castro in there playing. … To have guys like that, that can go play two or three places in the field, they make days like this a lot easier.”
Briefly
Pablo López will take the mound opposed by Lance Lynn in the second game of the series. It will be the Twins’ first night game at Target Field this season and López’s first start at home. … Baldelli and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol huddled with the umpires during the middle of the game on Monday. That, Baldelli said, concerned where base coaches were standing on the field. … Grifol, the first-year manager, was the Twins’ sixth-round pick in 1991. He played five minor league seasons with the Twins but never cracked the majors.
