Starting out with three games on the road against the
Cleveland Indians, Minnesota will miss both Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac but
deal with Shane Bieber anyways. After leaving Ohio, they’ll travel to Michigan
for a four-game set with the lowly Detroit Tigers. In terms of opponents, there
couldn’t be more of a stark contrast, but putting distance between themselves
and The Tribe will be reliant on early week wins and later expected results.
Leading the division by 1.5 games as of August 24, Minnesota
is in a very good position to make the Postseason. This team’s goals are
significantly loftier than that however, and it’s in that reality that the
situation off the field may prove even more dire. Right now, Baldelli’s lineup
is void of 33% of the Opening Day group, and the pitching staff seems to take a
new hit each day. The latter is an issue, but the former could prove to be a
real problem.
Josh Donaldson has been shelved since July 31, playing just
seven games in his debut season with his new team. Miguel Sano swapped positions
to accommodate him, and following a COVID positive, it took Sano roughly two
weeks into the season to get his bat going. Donaldson currently owns a .614 OPS
on the year and hasn’t settled in at the plate. If he misses much more beyond
this week, expecting him to be acclimated and contribute from the outset of
October would be somewhat of a fool’s errand.
Ryan Jeffers is the future tandem partner with Mitch Garver
anyways, so ushering him in hasn’t been a problem. Garver also hasn’t gotten
going however, and while it looked like he was starting to find it, the
intercostal injury could cost him ample time to lock in. The injury is just a
grade 1 problem, but it still remains to be seen when he’ll be back on the
field.
In the outfield Byron Buxton has been among the Twins
greatest assets this season. It’s a sigh of relief that his shoulder injury
doesn’t involve the surgically repaired labrum, but it seemed to come out of
nowhere and anything more than a 10-day breather would seem problematic. Jake
Cave has not stepped up at the plate, and both Rosario and Kepler on the
corners have yet to consistently contribute.
On the mound there’s a reinforcement coming in the form of
Michael Pineda. However, Cody Stashak has been one of the club’s best relievers
and him going down out of nowhere was a blow. Zack Littell worked plenty of
high leverage a season ago, and now an elbow injury could prove to be a serious
problem. Tyler Clippard gets bit by unluckiness being hit by a comebacker, and
Homer Bailey has yet to do anything of substance for Minnesota. To say that the
shuffling on the mound is starting to wear thing would probably be putting it
lightly.
There’s not much in the form of starting pitching options
that will be available at the deadline, and that means Minnesota will either
need to stay internal or go the route of relief to bolster their staff for the
stretch run. I’m not yet considering who is brought in being impactful to the
same extent as who can get healthy. This week is a critical juncture for the
players and training staff to get bodies back on the field.
Ideally Buxton misses the minimum, Donaldson returns to the
lineup, and Clippard has now more than a bruise needing to heal. This club has
all the talent in the world, but there’s only so many injuries one roster can
truly withstand.
