Twins athletic trainer Rick McWane on Monday said Scott Baker, placed on the disabled list with a strained right flexor muscle after Sunday’s game, is not yet scheduled to throw a bullpen session. That would happen, McWane said, once Baker is “pain free and the stiffness is at a level that he thinks he can go out there and throw.”
If Baker’s eventual throwing session goes well, he almost certainly would require a rehab outing in the minor leagues before returning to the Twins’ starting rotation. Baker last threw July 5 and with his DL stint retroactive to July 7, he is eligible to come off on Friday.
All of that adds up to Baker, arguably the Twins’ best starter this year, not being ready to come off the DL when he’s eligible.
The right-hander first felt his arm tighten up during his start on July 5, prompting the Twins to pull him from the game after five innings. The team then decided to scratch Baker from his final start of the first half, with Anthony Swarzak taking his place.
Baker saw team doctors and threw during the all-star break, then threw a bullpen session on Friday. He returned Saturday with a positive progress report but arrived at Target Field on Sunday feeling sorer than he would have liked.
Roster issues: Sending Matt Tolbert to Class AAA Rochester on Sunday left the Twins with 13 pitchers and, with just three players on the bench, a possible roster conundrum.
Ideally the Twins would have started Scott Diamond in Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader, then optioned him to Rochester after the game to bring another position player into the fold. But a player can’t be called up for 10 days after being sent down, and that left Tolbert and Rene Tosoni (sent to Rochester on July 10) off limits. The only exception to that rule is in case of an injury, but then the move would have to be position player for position player or pitcher for pitcher.
So what if Gardenhire needs a position player?
“Really, Double-A is where our next available roster position player would be,” Gardenhire said before Monday’s doubleheader. “That would be like a (Chris) Parmelee, if we need a position player if something happened. But we wouldn’t be able to get them here for today.”
Thome up, Mauer to first: Gardenhire planned to use Joe Mauer as designated hitter in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader and as catcher in the second, but then the manager saw Jim Thome’s career numbers against Cleveland starter David Huff and changed his mind.
Thome entered Monday’s game 4 for 6 with two home runs off Huff, so Gardenhire decided to use Thome as DH in Game 1 and use Mauer, who entered the day 7 for 16 with one homer off Huff, at first base for the second time in the catcher’s career. The catcher made two diving plays at first and, once again, looked comfortable at his new, occasional position.
Thome’s Game 1 start meant that the 40-year-old slugger would not play Game 2. Mauer didn’t luck into the same break.
“He’ll catch,” Gardenhire said of Mauer. “He’s one of the selected few. He wins the lottery. I was going to DH him in the first game, but when I saw Thome’s numbers I just wanted to see what Thome thinks.”
Morneau works out: Justin Morneau’s recovery from neck surgery is going well, McWane said, adding that Morneau played catch Sunday and will begin some more baseball activities, such as taking grounders. Swinging the bat will be the last baseball activity of Morneau’s rehab, McWane said.
The team estimated Morneau would need six weeks to recover from the surgery to remove a partially herniated disk from his neck, and though the first baseman seems ahead of schedule, McWane said whether that’s actually the case won’t be known until Morneau starts swinging a bat.
Briefly: Denard Span (concussion) played five innings in center field for the Rochester Red Wings on Sunday, going 0 for 3 in his first rehab game, and Jason Kubel (left foot sprain) went 1 for 4 in the same game as the DH. Span was scheduled to play five more innings in the outfield Monday, McWane said, while Kubel was slated to play nine innings in the outfield.
– The Twins made IV fluids available to players between games Monday to help them stay hydrated in the extreme heat.
– The Twins announced that the postponed game against the White Sox on June 14 has been rescheduled for 7:10 p.m. Sept. 5 as part of a day-night doubleheader. The 1:10 p.m. game that day will be start as originally scheduled with gates opening at 11 a.m.
