Postgame update: Morneau, Kubel, Punto
Posted on June 21st, 2009 – 4:44 PMBy Joe Christensen
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Justin Morneau was not available today, even as a pinch hitter, as Morneau’s streak of 319 consecutive games played came to an end.
Gardenhire continued to describe Morneau’s injury as general soreness.
“He plans on being in there everyday, but he knew when he came in today that he was not feeling very good,” Gardenhire said. “He was going to try to get loose, and we walked over and checked him, and it was not working out.
“We saw that at the end of last year, when he played through everything, the bad back — the whole package, and we don’t want to get into those things, not in the middle part of the year.”
Ryan Howard’s streak of 343 consecutive games played also ended today. He has been hospitalized with flu symptoms.
(*) Jason Kubel left the game with flu symptoms. Gardenhire said Kubel also had lost Miguel Tejada’s first-inning double in the roof.
(*) Asked if his team needed reinforcements before resuming play in a National League ballpark, Tuesday in Milwaukee, Gardenhire said, “There’s really not a lot of answers right now. Nicky [Punto’s] day-to-day, and Morneau should be fine, I would hope. And there’s not a lot of answers right now. There’s not people to come up and help us, so we have to let these guys get well.”
66 Responses to "Postgame update: Morneau, Kubel, Punto"
Perkins should be confined to warm up duty for Morales.
Nicky should not be allowed to slide head first…….EVER.
Upon reflection: If the flu runs through the clubhouse, affecting the most vital players to the ballclub, some subpar overall performances are understandable. Still, no excuse for Henn.
dump ayala and henn bring terry ryan back
Oh, heavens, let’s not bring Terry Ryan back, please.
Dump Redmond (He has a contract)
Dump Punto (He has a contract)
Dump Young (He has a contract)
Dump Buscher (He has a contract)
Dump Gomez (He has a contract)
Dump Ayala (He has a contract)
Dump Henn (He has a contract)
Dump Cuddyer (He has a contract)
Dump Crain (He has a contract)
Dump Ullger (He has a contract)
Dump Gardy (He has a contract)
Dump Perkins (He has a contract)
hmmmmmmmm….Let’s do it.
Dump Mauer
Dump Morneau
SHUT UP!!!!!! Quit complaining about every single player. Yes, some players are upsetting, but I’m tired of listening to all of this! So many people complain on here way too much. Everyone knows how the Twins system works, and it is very unlikely for them to dump players and pick up others. Plus just because a roster move is made, it does not mean that it will benefit the team.
One step forward…One step back….,,,either a bad dance routine or Twins baseball.
Cody…You obviously did not catch the sarcasm of my post.
hehe DrDon….
LMS….Cody did make one truthful part of his comment at 5:50, and that being the part about people complaining way too much, so much in fact that people do not even understand sarcasm when it is delivered to them on a plate.
DrDon needs to remove something from his behind………Maybe 98 is in there!
so they kind of didn’t come to play when they were facing a pitcher with bruised ribs (I want to say someone else has that too)and is usually very wild on the road, eh, there are still more games to follow. All I know is that this painful weekend of having to choose which team to root for is over with and I can root for both now!
I don’t think the Twins can win the division with a 20-22 man roster. Things seemed to be falling into place before Punto pulled his knucklehead routine. Henn earned a roster spot and then spit the bit. There is no downside to promoting Swartcek and having him try releif while being on hand in the event Liriano continues to go south.
“”"”Rocky Simon says:
June 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
DrDon needs to remove something from his behind………Maybe 98 is in there!”"”"
I already did, it was a big BM and I named it Rocky Simon.
over the last 2 1/2 years our record is 202-193 that’s getting to be a big sample size. we may need to just recognize that this isn’t that good a group of players. they look better on paper than they play on the field. lucky we have been in a very weak division.
imo it’s time for a major shake up, players (trades), coaches, gm? something needs to change.
three bad plays in first inning, all by players who normally are not in that position
cuddyer at first, Mauer would have thrown the guy out at second, and Cuddyer would have made the play Kubel muffed
but that leadoff bunt isn’t all Cuddy’s fault, because advance scouting reports said that Bourn liked to bunt off of lefties so Tolbert should have been in a position to better cover 1st. He even showed bunt on the 2nd ball so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. I know it is fun to all blame Cuddyer but it wasn’t all his fault on that play.
Gardy not exactly giving our AAA a boost of confidence with the quote of “There’s not people to come up and help us, so we have to let these guys get well”.
He speaks the truth, AJ.
He speaks the truth, AJ.
Not sure about that Don 
Swarzak helped, didn’t he? How about Morales?
Swarzie….too inconsistent yet, did a good job for 2 of his 4, stunk the other 2….Morales??? up here, but not totally ready. but his opportunity will come.
thry, you are one very smart dude, but you know as well as I do that when a AAA player is called up, the whole program thinks that person is ready. How many fall off the map from AAA to the BigTime?
I wonder why they aren’t considering Tolleson from AAA for infield help. He’s hitting, maybe it’s his glove? He’s already on the 40-man
btw, thrylos98, did you see the compliment that Rocky Simon posted???? LMAO, and got him back for both of us.
Don’t think today is the day to decide to dump any pitcher. Who can win a game when your offense only has two hits?
By now you should know who Rocky Simon is… He is that T.opp D.ogg character who got banned and changed his alias… Who cares? Just ignore him.
I think that at this point Tolleson is better than Tolbert and Buscher. Also, Huber can help, so can Hughes when he gets healthy. And Winfree is not that much behind at this point. Dustin Martin cooled off a bit. These can help as far as position players go.
we all know how much gardy likes young players.
thrylos, and that Morales guy might be able to help the offense out, too… what happened to him?
What do you suppose is up with Sabathia?????
Buscher’s doing a touch better as of late - in his last 10 games, 6-19 with 4 BBs and a HR. I think he’s in the right place.
2nd year of bullpen problems. Any solutions? Bring someone up? Trade? Any thoughts?
Most teams have BP problems, not unique to the Twins, GW. Solutions??? Starters go 8 and turn it over to Nathan.
thrylos, and that Morales guy might be able to help the offense out, too… what happened to him?
Apparently Gardy thinks that Redmond is better…
Gardy’s blaming this loss on injuries.
Half of AAA is already here.
I think Gardy should blame it on the Flu, Benny. Swine or Bird. Maybe Mad Cow disease. When we play the Brewers it might be the Three Two Flu. You prolly don’t know what that is.
4 starters out today because injuries/illness. Plus Crede’s been in and out recently.
A day off will do wonders. And wonderful news that Slowey only tweaked himself some (no pain since Fri).
A day off will do wonders
Not a much as a new General Manager would.
Half of AAA is already here.
The other half is coming with the flat-bed towing truck…
Chief,
do you really think that Smith has anything to do with the same group of players underperforming this season? They are pretty much the same players who won 88 games last season, plus Crede.
They are pretty much the same players who won 88 games last season, plus Crede.
Standing pat (pretty much) is generally a recipe for disaster in sports.
I have a hard time finding reasons to support the front office. What’s to like?
I like that fact that Smith made decisions to cut players not matter what the cost last season (Rincon, Lamb, Livan) and this has not been done for a while in this organization.
I still don’t get it why the field staff gets a free pass all the time…
You’re giving Smith credit for cutting players he’s responsible for signing in the first place?
Chief,
he tried to improve the team. He signed players who (unfortunately) did not work out. He had the balls to cut them. I am not sure that Ryan would have done that. I think that there are some problems in the front office (mainly, there is too much influence from scouts, the manager -see Punto re-signing- and coaches and not enough number crunching to balance decisions.)
With regard to the FO, that Ayala signing don’t look too bad. Good contract for Crede as well. Imagine how much whining there would have been every time Crede’s back acted up without that contract. And who knows if they’re standing pat; last I heard the trade deadline was the end of July. No team is running away with the AL Central. Patience can be a virtue.
After 12 PA in Beloit, Aaron Hicks has:
OBP= .583
SLG= .500
OPS= 1.083
sane,
I guess he can get that outside pitch hitting lefty so far 
Of less interest to Twins’ fans, in Mike Carp’s (Mariners) first week in MLB, he has:
OBP= .636
SLG= .429
OPS= 1.065
Life is good.
thrylos,
“I guess he can get that outside pitch hitting lefty so far”
He may be hitting lefty well enough, so that his next trip from Beloit to Florida, will be to play for the Fort Myers Miracle instead of EST.
FYI–
Listened to AM-1500 this morning w/ Reusse talking with John Gordon. Didn’t catch all of it, but it sounded like Ayala might be done and Keppel from Rochester is on his way up with the club.
You’re giving Smith credit for cutting players he’s responsible for signing in the first place?
He’s shown a willingness to admit defeat and cut a guy even if it means paying them the rest of their contract while they sit on the bench with another team. How often did you see TR do that?
As far as “A new GM would fix this” is concerned…wasn’t that the rally cry when TR was still in office? Maybe “be careful what you wish for” is in order here?
As far as the current roster situation goes, Punto should be DLed if only to allow Gardy to get a guy on the bench that’s not “day to day”.
Morneau and Kubel hopefully can recover quick enough and can be on bench duty by tonight/tomorrow. But you don’t want to DL a guy just because he’s got a stomach ache.
I think there could be an amazing (positive) difference in this team if there was a strong leader on board. Reddog seems to be the only one even close to assuming that role.
The leader should be the manager.
Benny: I think coyote is referring to somebody taking on a role like Puckett…where they can step up in hard times and say “Climb on my back.”
The manager can lead, but he’s in the clubhouse/dugout. Every team needs a Captain type player that goes out there on the field or is in the lineup.
It’s the only downside of Mauer/Morneau being those guys that speak softly but carry a stick.
It’s the only downside of Mauer/Morneau being those guys that speak softly but carry a stick.
I agree, but I also think Morneau has made strides each season in the regard of leadership. Even this season he’s raised his voice a little concerning play and it’s nice to see. Hopefully it will continue because I don’t really see anyone else playing everyday that fits that ‘leadership’ role.
did anyone notice how they were talking up torii last night as taking over the leadership role for the angels and how happy they were with him?
at times it seems like this team misses his get in your face style. sure be nice to have his bat back. water under the bridge at this point.
Not sure if anyone had mentioned this yet.
But CF and top Twins prospect Aaron Hicks has finally made his debut for the Beloit Snappers. Currently 3-8 with a 2B and an RBI in 3 games.
Time to start planning my road trip to Sconnie country…
I heard Torii being interviewed, Gobble. The mentioned an “MVP” year. It WAS a good interview, said all the right things, etc. Afterwards it was stated he was one of the best guys to interview in Baseball.
I would agree there does seem to be games, or stretches, where it appears the Twins aren’t really ‘into it.’
The regular season is a grind, and it’s important to play hard every day. Say what you will about Torii, but the man came to play, every day.
It looked to me like the Twins were about a half hour late to the game yesterday, found themselves down 3-0 with some lackluster defense, and then mailed it from there.
Not sure what the answer is.
T is correct in his interpretation of what I am referring to about a leader.
at times it seems like this team misses his get in your face style
There are players that bring that “play hard every day” attitude to the team, but unfortunately don’t have the talent at the moment to back it up.
Punto for example. For as much as people rip his hitting, he comes to the park every day wanting to help. He plays hard…he just can’t hit.
Gomez is simliar. He’s got the talent, and he’s got the attitude, but he’s just too young at this point to really grasp what it means to be a team leader.
It has to come from guys like Cuddyer, Morneau, Mauer, and I’d say even Kubel…who have been there for as long as they have.
Crede is a veteran presence, but I get the feeling it’d be hard for him to step into a role such as that since it’s pretty much accepted that he will not be returning next year. Well, at least not unless Smith can pull a miracle with Boras.
“I’d say even Kubel…”
If you knew Kubel, you wouldn’t say Kubel.
Good hitter with meager inter-personal skills and NO indication of leadership skills.
Punto dives too much. Beats himself up, and then he can’t produce at the plate. I was hoping playing 2B would take some punishment off him, but then he just dives into first and second base and hurts himself anyway. Quit diving so much, Nick Punto!
So that just leaves Cuddyer. But I have the feelings today’s players don’t respond well to the “get in your face style”. I can’t see where those types of managers win any more than more laid back guys (on the surface) like Charlie Manuel and Joe Madden.
