Cuddyer likely headed to DL; Span pulled from Rochester game
Posted on June 29th, 2008 – 10:20 AMBy Joe Christensen
Alexi Casilla returns to the lineup today and Michael Cuddyer will have the strained tendon in his left index finger examined by doctors this morning.
On his Sunday radio show, Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire told KSTP AM-1500 that Mike Lamb will get the start at DH. Updates to come, but here’s the lineup, as Gardy relayed it to Reusse and Souhan:
Update (12 p.m.): It sounds like Cuddyer is heading to the DL. Gardy said Cuddyer’s injured finger feels the same as yesterday. In other words, no improvement. Gardy still needed to meet with GM Bill Smith, but it sounds like Cuddyer will go on the DL and the Twins will recall Denard Span.
Might get another update on Cuddyer before the game, after he meets with the doctor again. Otherwise, a move could be announced after the game.
“It looks like probably a DL,” Gardenhire said. “His hand is no better today. He’s pretty frustrated. But we still need to let the doctors look at him.”
Update (12:05 p.m.): MLB has sent the final All-Star voting update before the teams are announced next Sunday. From the press release:
Many of the American League races will hinge on the final days of balloting for the 79th All-Star Game, which will be played on Tuesday, July 15th at Yankee Stadium. Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, Boston Red Sox teammates Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia and Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who is vying for the third starting outfield slot, cling to tight leads.
Mauer (1,632,338 votes), who has an edge for the second straight week, leads Boston’s Jason Varitek (1,487,390) by less than 145,000 votes. On the right side of the infield, the pair of Red Sox continues to hang on in their bids to make their Midsummer Classic debuts; Youkilis (1,915,376) is in front of Minnesota’s Justin Morneau (1,641,467) at first base and Pedroia (1,669,216) is outpacing Ian Kinsler (1,485,530) of the Texas Rangers at second.
Update (1:35 p.m.): Denard Span was pulled from Class AAA Rochester’s game today in the third inning and congratulated on his promotion to the big leagues. Looks like the roster move will happen after today’s Twins game.
Brewers (44-36)
1. Rickie Weeks, 2B
2. J.J. Hardy, SS
3. Ryan Braun, LF
4. Prince Fielder, DH
5. Corey Hart, RF
6. Russell Branyan, 1B
7. Bill Hall, 3B
8. Mike Cameron, CF
9. Jason Kendall, C
Starting pitcher: RH Ben Sheets
Twins (44-37)
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, RF
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. Brian Buscher, 3B
8. Brendan Harris, SS
9. Mike Lamb, DH
Starting pitcher: RH Kevin Slowey
Metrodome. First pitch: 1:10 p.m.
98 Responses to "Cuddyer likely headed to DL; Span pulled from Rochester game"
Thanks, Joe, keep us updated as you get additional info…. Good Luck today, Pups, let’s foam the Brew Crew. And congrats on the 10-game streak that just ended last night, go get ‘em today.
start the 2nd season today…get it going with the start of another streak…this next stretch will be a major test for this team and it should be fun, and im guessing it will start without cuddyer, as he seems to have more hand/finger problems and those dont just heal that fast, but i was glad to hear gardy say that he wants span up immediately to fill in…i think this will give the twins another look and more speed ….maybe even move gomez to the 9th spot and let span lead off….
span rf
casilla 3b
mauer c
morneau 1b
young lf
kubel dh
harris ss
buscher 3b
gomez cf
lamb, redmond, punto, monroe…
casilla 2b of course
Yeah, Monroe didn’t look too good out there. And yeah he’s got 7 HRs, but the almost sub .200 AVG is disappointing.
Let’s hope Cuddy can get healthy in a hurry. This lineup was clicking…
Why does everyone think Span is some kind of savior for the Twins this season? He’s not going to come up and produce like he is down in AAA. All he has going for him that Gomez doesn’t is that he can draw a walk.
His numbers are tremendously inflated in AAA, and really, the best way for Span to help this club is by being traded for a more worthwhile player because his current numbers are attractive. Trade him for a real third baseman, something we still haven’t had since Koskie.
San Diego, say hello to Denard Span. Minnesota, say hello to Kevin Kouzmanoff.
if that trade were even remotely possible it would have been done long ago….it will take more than span to get kouzmanoff- you better be prepared to let go a pitching prospect and span at least to make a deal like that
span is not the savior, but maybe he can get on base more often than what we have been getting from out outfield….gomez is struggling, cuddys been hurt, young has been doing ok, but we need someone to hit .300 or so and pick it up a bit…hopefully span can do that and steal some bases….thats good speed with the 3 of them - if they can get on and play some small ball and let the big guys do their thing
Mauer and Casilla are both in the lineup. Yipee! But Lamb as the DH? Really? What’s wrong with Monroe?
heres whats wrong with monroe he sucks. If the twins could find a taker for monroe i would do it in a heartbeat. i dont care if we dont get a player in return if they are willing to take his salary do it.
Oooh. Wittle Ewik talking tough again. What a real man!
Wow Erik, that’s a bit callous. Hopefully a devastating injury?!? I would never wish an injury on anyone. I mean, I want the Twins to win as much as anybody. But this is just a baseball game…
Perhaps you’re making a joke though and I’m overreacting.
Wittle Ewik wants attention, Dave. And I guess we’re giving it to him.
I think the lineup looks about right. Yes Monroe doesn’t have the batting avg. that we all would like to see, but he has been a pinch hitter and bench player for most of the year. I truly do believe that if he would have been a regular player his avg. would be closer to .260, which isn’t great but he would have more HR and RBI. He is a great asset to this team and the bench is so much far superior to what it has been in the past. This team is going to keep winning, they have the 06′ spirt in them and they look pretty solid. Lets just sit back and enjoy the ride… Remember many of us thought this team was not even going to be in this tight Central race. GO TWINS!!!
It’s unlikely Lamb will suffer an injury, unfortunately.
The only ways he would do so would be diving (and missing) for the ball in the field and running the basepaths.
Unfortunately, as a DH today, he wont be in the field and we know he not only will go hitless, but probably wont hit a ball in play all day.
Time to go out back and put the old man out of his misery.
Erik,
Shoot yourself!
Thank you.
I guess this is one of those “don’t feed the trolls” situations…
Just ignore him and he will go away.
On a positive note lamb is 8 for 26 with a homer against sheets so maybe he can get something started and start driving the ball.
Wittle Ewik wikes attention between diaper changes.
Considering the fact that Sheets is one of the few Twins players with experience against Sheets, I think that Gardy did a good thing by getting him into the game.
Too many people look at the player without considering the splits that person may/may not have. I still get a kick out of people bemoaning the fact that a player gets a start occasionally.
Kinda like Thursday when several people outright called Gardy an idiot for having Redmond in the 3 hole. Funny, didn’t see any of them retract their earlier comments after the game either.
Guess it’s easy to bitch and moan when you aren’t held liable for your comments.
Geez.
one in every crowd, unfortunately ewik is in our crowd…hope its fun being the village idiot….but thats the end of my attention to you
Dang, anybody look at where the Twins are right now? They are 1 1/2 out of first at the midway point of the season.
How can some people be so dang negative, when this team, at best was expected to get some experience for their youthful players to build up for a run at the WS in 2010. As it is, I am really enjoying the run that this team is on. Really enjoying the fact that a bunch of young players are playing together as a team, instead of a bunch of immature stat obsessed egotistical players. Gotta love what this team has accomplished. Even if they do end up fading at the end, well, what fun would it be to actually have something to cheer for in the meantime?
There won’t be any upgrades to this club. The best we will see is Lariano coming up later this year, but Hernandez will not fetch much in a trade, so he will probably finish off the season as a Twin.
Cuddyer to the DL is a blessing in disguise. He’s pretty much worthless this year. Maybe Span can pick up Cuddyer’s slack.
Umm, Bill, I don’t see how it can be considered a blessing when one of the better hitters on the club is moved to the DL????
He is hitting poorly this year, but how can you honestly think that Span will hit much better? Span definitly doesn’t have the pop in his bat that Cuddy does, nor does he have the outfield arm that any of the Twins starting feilders possess. Span played poorly in the field during his previous callup, and many blamed that on his being a centerfielder, not a corner outfielder.
Well, isn’t that what he would be expected to play again? I doubt that they will be moving Delmon to right, and I HIGHLY doubt that Gomez is going to right, so that leaves Kubes, Monroe or in this case Span. I don’t like the idea of a weak-armed outfielder playing in right, so none of those options sound very good to me.
To bad that Delmon is slated as our left-fielder, since now would be the time to attempt him in right. Kubes played pretty dang good in left in San Diego.
theres absolutely no sense in waiting or being willing to wait til 2010 to win games…i dont understand that at all, why not win now…this club can compete and i guarantee you these players arent of the mindset that we will wait til 2010 to get serious….these guys want to win now and can, so i hope the f.o. will accomodate them and the fans and do whatever is needed to make this club that is such surprise to so many. i know that myself and a few others on here have always thought since spring training that with a few breaks etc that this club would make a decent run for the title…i for one am not interested in playing two years of exhibition games….
Everyone is an expert, especially the Joe Bltzfk type in Ewik and Bill. If the Twins went 162 and 0, they would still complain. Their comments are immature and sad at best, I just want nothing but good luck for all of the Twins’ players, and let Gardy call the shots… Gardy for Manager of the Year!!! Go Twins!!!!!!!!!
It’s game time, see ya all later.
Don’t forget the uber-expert, Beneke/Fire…
I think Macri should be called up, Buscher can DH then… We have too many lefty bats already….
I think that McDonald/Ruiz would be a better solution than Span at this point… Another soft hitting lefty is the last thing this team needs
say what you will about lamb, but he just got sheets to cough up nearly 10% of his daily allowance of pitches in one at-bat.
For a man on a vegetarian diet he is still incredibly large.
I still think Macri would be a better call up….. We don’t need 5 OF and we don’t need 30 left handed bats….
Span could be getting a call if there’s trade winds in the works.
Things that would leave the Twins without 5 OFs.
Welcome back Span. Here’s hoping you can keep it going like you were at AAA.
Tough luck for Cuddy. He had it going pretty well again, IMO. June: 291 .385 .481 .866 AVG OBP SLG OPS
hey carlos, try swinging the bat once in a while, i dont get why he tries to bunt all that time, hes not even a strong bunter
Twins fans already with more things to cheer about than all of last night. That sucked sitting there with all those obnoxious brewers “fans” with those first 3 innings that Livan had. We needed his 4th through 7th innings to start the game.
But, we could have used a few good swings too. Hated to see them lose, but they appear to have a good attitude coming out today. Tough pitcher to get a new streak going again, but I do like this team.
“all those obnoxious brewers “fans” with those first 3 innings that Livan had”
No kidding. I haven’t seen that kind of behavior since the last time the Yanks were in town.
*urk*
Cuddy had it going well again?? Wow, some of you are so blinded by homerism that you think Cuddyer is some sort of All-Star. He’s a nickel a dozen.
MROE KUBEL!!!!
Bill:
June: 291 .385 .481 .866 AVG OBP SLG OPS
But hey, Cuddy is a great guy and he battles his tail off. That’s why he gets free pass. In the real world that doesn’t cut it.
and then sometimes you can’t have enough left-handed hitters …
Like I was saying, I’m really glad the Twins lost yesterday. It was starting to get boring around here with everybody in good moods and nobody whining about nothing.
T:
Season .252 3 HR and 35 RBI
Salary: $8 million?????
WTF???
Quit making excuses for him. He had one decent year and people want to add him to the curtain in RCF.
T,
I haven’t seen as many visitor fans in a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 10K brewers fans of the nearly 40,000 there last night.
But, they don’t feel like they are showing their spirit without talking obnoxious smack about the opponents. Nice that we took 2 of 3 there. Even better if we can send them home with a miserable loss today.
Albeit Cuddy is probably over paid, but he has been battling a hand injury all year. Try getting a hit against major league pitching with a bad hand…
He had one decent year and people want to add him to the curtain in RCF.
Funny, I’ve never gotten that impression from here.
again, quit making excuses for Cuddyer.
I just wish I could command a 200% raise for being a below average employee.
Cuddyer should be shopped around.
Bill,
Cuddy was .300 before injury and .291 in June with another bad finger. May was another ST stretch for him, IMO. I don’t know why people are unwilling to look at numbers of guys they love to roast. Maybe you think it is easy to swing a bat without use of your index fingers. Or, maybe you’ve never swung a bat… more likely.
How about you try doing your job of being one of the resident jerks without using your two index fingers on the keyboard?
Duensing’s line at Rochester:
5IP 3H 4R 3BB 3K 2HR 88 pitches 53 strikes
Daigle in to start the 6th.
Let me hit you in the hand with a 90 mph pitch. Then let me step on your hand with metal cleats. Than lets hyperextend your index finger. Now try and hit 90+ mph fastballs and wicked breaking balls. How about we get off the guys back.
Good job Bill. Way to go to the standard “____ sucks, isn’t worth his contract…but let’s trade him for something we need” argument.
Alright GOMEZ! Way to pick up the others.
GB triple to left field. Don’t see that often.
Wow, I didn’t realize Cuddyer had so many family members on this message board. Soory to offend you all.
Only in Minnesota do we have rubes that gush over medicore players. It applies to all the local teams.
Bill,
“I just wish I could command a 200% raise for being a I just wish I could command a 200% raise for being a below average employee.
I’ll bet you’ve got the “below average employee” part perfected.
“He had one decent year”.
Since you hate everyone and everything all the time, thats one more decent year than you will ever have.
The bottome line is the past two years he was an above average hitter with a cannon of an arm. This year he has been dealing with hand injuries and for the little while he was healthy he was really raking. Now he is hurt again. How about we quit complaining just for the sake of complaining.
“Wow, I didn’t realize Cuddyer had so many family members on this message board. Soory to offend you all.”
Wow. And now you trot out this tired attempt at an insult? You’re really on a roll.
If you all agree Cuddy was/is hurt then Gardy is the idiot for playing with one hand tied behind his back. Hmmm, My right fielder is hurt and I have a guy tearing up AAA. I think I’ll stick with Cuddy. Yup, and my lead off guy has the worst OBP on the team. Guess I’ll leave him in the lead off spot.
Span is not a right fielder. He has a noodle arm and weak bat. He IS NOT a corner outfield EVER PERIOD.
Ooooh, poor wittle Biwwy Bwasky is cwanky just like wittle baby Ewik. There there Biwwy. Chew on your binky.
So Brasky, having run out of options, swaps names and poses a new quandry.
All players come off the DL and have to play at some point. Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Liriano, Baker, Slowey….
Part of the whole process is coming back and getting back into the swing of things. Cuddyer can’t recover from his injury if he doesn’t play.
So he does his DL stint, gets some time to rehab, and then starts getting back in the lineup.
It’s also on the players to make sure they communicate to the management if they’re not 100% or if they’re being impacted negatively.
Don’t some of these same people ripping Cuddy for playing hurt the same people who rip Mauer for getting days off?
Lets see. The same people that complain about Pohlad being a cheapskate and not signing guys are now complaining about guys being overpaid. Maybe you guys should pick what you are going to complaing about because it is just embarassing and asinine.
I bet that feels good.
DY!!! That looked SO easy of a swing.
Let me guess he didn’t hit it far enough.
Something tells me Sheets is upset with himself.
Nah Toby. It’s a meaningless homer because the Twins are already infront.
my hunch is that a lotta haters are ready to update johnson, maddux, peavy and webb to “sheets isn’t as good as he used to be.”
meanwhile, they’re hoping for that big brewers comeback.
Of course, my apologies
Probably mickey. Have to update the form responses.
Way to go, DY!!! Couldn’t happen at a better time.
Now that the Twins have made the logical move with Span, it’s time to get creative to fortify our bench.
Who has an abundance of lefty hitters that can trade with a team with an abundance of righty hitters? That’s right…The Twins and Brewers.
Bill Hall has gone on record as wanting out of Milwaukee since Branyan has taken over 3d base vs their National League opponents. Yet Branyan can also play 1st and RF. So, I propose the Twins move Lamb, Monroe and Bass to the Crew for Hall.
Why does this make sense? The Crew needs more of a lefty presence in their offense. Lamb (who’s had success in the NL) fits that bill. Monroe replaces Hall’s RH bat, and Bass gives reinforcement to the Crew’s suspect bullpen.
The Twins get a legitimate power threat in Hall (we can live with his K’s), who can play 2B, SS, 3B and the outfield (He did well as the Crew’s CF last year).
The contracts cancel each other out. The Twins bench becomes Redmond, Punto, Span and Hall. They’d have good defense to fill any spot and right/left bat combinations to boot. It gives us the option to sit Gomez, Young, Harris and Buscher as needed.
What do you think?
SmallMarket you would be GM of the year for sure. Trading two old stiffs and a solid middle reliever for an old stiff who can’t hit. Brilliant!
Just announced that Detroit has put Magglio Ordonez on the 15-day DL with muscle spasms in his back. No Cuddy/No Mags.. Big series coming up manana.
Smallmarket,
That does make sense.
And for that reason alone, its unlikely.
This may be good to get Span up here. People will be able to see how average he truly is and stop the talk of sending GoGo down or trading Cuddy.
or maybe span will be good. that would also be good.
sure mental, as long as people realize he isn’t better than the guys we have, he could chip in and maybe then we can trade him
yes, everett fan, that would be good, too.
Everett_Fan,
If Bill Hall is “an old stiff who can’t hit”, what kind of a hitter does that make Everett?
Heck of a performance for Slowey!! Gameday had that last fastball at 94!Bring on the kittens!
the same, but Everett isn’t supposed to hit, he plays SS, Hall’s rep is as a hitter, which he isn’t
how bout them twins?
Great win for the Twins. Sheets is Cy materieal in the NL, if he stays healthy, and while they didn’t put pressure on him every inning, they made their hits count and scored five runs of a really tough pitcher.
Slowey was outstanding. I wish he had a real changeup, but well-located fastballs really cam get the job done.
Everett_Fan:
Look at Hall’s career hitting stats, and then tell me with his versatility in the field that his ‘old stiff’ 28 year old self couldn’t benefit with a move to the AL…
Everett_Fan,
“Everett isn’t supposed to hit, he plays SS, Hall’s rep is as a hitter, which he isn’t.
At least Hall HAS hit, (.270 35-85 in 2006) and is valuable to the Twins because of his versatility. With him on the roster, the 2nd bench IF and 2nd bench OF positions are filled by one player and a 12-man pitching staff won’t deplete the bench.
Everett can’t play SS anymore, and never could play anywhere else or hit.
Hall is much more valuable.
Twins beat Johnson, Webb, Maddux, Peavy, Sheets… wow. Not exactly easy interleague matchups, and yet the club did it.
Nice to have Casilla back in the lineup today and (again) good situational hitting. Kubel hit better than the now-famous 3 for 20 prediction; the Twins beat Ben Sheets with FIVE runs; and DY hit homer number two.
Good times all around.
The Brewer broadcast team called the Twins “the best situational hitters in MLB”.
It may not be true, but is counters the “Vavra is useless” crap we used to read. (and will someday read again, I am sure - as long as there are clueless commenters out in blog-land)
Good to see Bill is back with his expert knowledge.
Last time he checked in, he opined about how Gardy didn’t have the smarts to manage in/against the NL.
Of course he didn’t look at the record, at the time Gardy was career .625 against the NL, I can’t remember during which SD game that wisdom was presented, BUT Gardy has added to his record either 3 of 4 or 4 of 5 since.
Regards,
A random thought…How good could this Slowey kid become if he could ever find an “out” pitch?
Regards,
Bill Hall’s career stats look a lot like Monroe’s. The both stopped hitting 2 years ago an perennially have more Ks than hits. That trade would be garbage in garbage out… Ruiz and McDonald at Rochester are better hitters than Bill Hall
Dragon,
Lack of an “out” pitch forces Slowey to rely on near-perfect pitch execution which he had today and will have again in the future.
On the days he misses his spots, the lack of an “out” pitch will be a problem.
But no pitcher has everything every day.
thrylos98,
“Bill Hall’s career stats look a lot like Monroe’s. The both stopped hitting 2 years ago …Ruiz and McDonald at Rochester are better hitters than Bill Hall”
You may be right about Monroe and Hall, but McDonald’s and Ruiz’s MINOR LEAGUE STATS can’t be compared to anyones MLB stats.
McDonald had good AAA stats last year and then was horribly overmatched in MLB. That doesn’t assure MLB failure this year, but it certainly doesn’t assure success.
Minor league batting stats and MLB batting stats are just barely related to each other.
“Minor league batting stats and MLB batting stats are just barely related to each other.”
If thats NOT true, go get Dallas McPherson. (.310, projected 57HR and 116 RBI at AAA)
McDonald had good AAA stats last year and then was horribly overmatched in MLB.
Same with Span this year.
The only difference is that McDonald and Ruiz are potential power righty bats where Span is a light hitting lefty bats. I’d rather have one of the others up here just to see what they can do
thrylos98,
“McDonald had good AAA stats last year and then was horribly overmatched in MLB.
“Same with Span this year.”
Span2008 McDonald2007
.258 BA .100 BA
.324 OBP .182 OBP
.582 OPS .282 OPS
You are comparing “horribly overmatched” with “would have stuck except for roster limit”.
NO COMPARISON!!!!!!!!!!!!
McDonald had one single and 3 strikeouts in 10 AB - the definition of horrible.
Span would have stuck with the Twins, but they kept Monroe instead. Something about a contract.
sane,
let’s agree to disagree on that. You cannot evaluate a player’s performance with 10 AB (what’s that, 2 full games?). 4 batters are having good seasons in Rochester (Span, Buscher, McDonald, Ruiz). The Twins cannot hit LHP. Given that Buscher has performed up to now, there is no way he goes back. With that said, do you bring up the light hitting lefty, or one of the power hitting righties?
Slowey most have pitched great today.He and Garza were both on the fast track to make it up here.I think the FO thought that Slowey had the better mental approach toward the game than Garza.Garza a one-hitter,Slowey a three-hitter against the Brewers,not bad.We won’t realistically,who the better pitcher for 3 years.If DY can start hitting for power,that will make the trade look better.We need a right-handed power threat desperately.Cuddy has played with hand injuries the last year and a half
