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The opening day of the 2021 season was a great spectacle for the Minnesota Twins. With the sun shining through the Milwaukee Brewers’ retractable roof and fans filling 25 percent of the bleachers, nature was healing. In the game’s second at-bat, Josh Donaldson approached home plate and scored a brace in the spread.
Things took a turn for the worse before he reached second base.
When Donaldson rounded the first, he felt something in his hamstrings and limped in the second. He was taken out of play at the end of the round. But the injury had a much bigger impact than a 10-day stint on the injured list.
Donaldson’s injury foreshadowed what was to come. This season has been littered with injuries for the Twins. While other flaws have dragged Minnesota to the bottom of American League Central, key player injuries played a big part.
While Donaldson’s remaining on the injured list has been short, the impact has been felt in the Twins’ early season plans. The Twins were hoping to get away with a combination of Jake Cave, Kyle Garlick and Luis Arraez in left field until they could call Alex Kirilloff. But when Donaldson got injured, Arraez was transferred to third base, thwarting the idea of his role as a super-submarine.
Two weeks later, Andrelton Simmons tested positive for COVID-19. The virus has spread through the Twins’ clubhouse, putting Garlick, Max Kepler and reliever Caleb Thielbar on the COVID reserve list. With three of their outfield options unavailable, the Twins were forced to rely on Cave more than they expected and completely exhausted their taxi squad on a six-game road trip between Anaheim and Oakland.
Things got worse when Miguel San entered the injured list with hamstring strain. Although Kirilloff was called up to replace San on first base, he injured his wrist a few weeks later which threw San back into the lineup.
Hamstreless isn’t the only reason he’s hit 0.158 this season, but he’s used to not recovering from injuries quickly. While San struggles to measure the ball, he recorded some of the lowest Statcast measurable values of his career, which took production out of the Twins lineup. Meanwhile, Kirilloff smashed four home runs in a series win over the Kansas City Royals, but was entered on the injured list with a sprained wrist on May 3.
A week later, the Twins’ squad received a fatal blow when Byron Buxton injured his hip while attempting to make a jump into center field. Buxton had had the best start to his career, but his injury left the Twins with no legitimate option in centerfield.
Kepler initially replaced Buxton, but the move undermined their defense in right field. Cave started to see more work in the center field, but a stress reaction behind his back gave us the legend of Rob Refsnyder, who ended up on the shelf after crashing into a wall in Camden Yards .
But the multitude of injuries didn’t stop at the roster. The starting rotation fell victim to the injured list. Michael Pineda enjoyed a 10-day stint with an abscess procedure and Kenta Maeda landed on the list with a strained groin.
It strained a rotation that was supposed to have depth this year, including Matt Shoemaker (2-6, 5.90 ERA), Randy Dobnak (1-4, 6.49 ERA) and JA Happ (3- 2, 5.24 ERA). With most of their top prospects hampered by the loss of a year of development, the Twins had to deepen their system, which allowed Bailey Ober and Lewis Thorpe to start.
It’s also worth mentioning that another top prospect Royce Lewis is not playing this year because he tore his ACL while sliding on ice – in Texas.
With Kepler (hamstrings) and Mitch Garver (groin contusion) the last to land on the injured list, it’s not only curious to see who the next player in the lineup will be, but how the next injury turns out. will produce. With a Garvers injury occurring on a foul spike in his groin, it makes sense that the next injury would be a lifter trying to iron his shirt while wearing it or cutting off his pinky while staring at a drone.
The Twins have had a lot of issues that were under their control this season, but with the way the injuries have piled up, it’s just not their year.
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