Tagged: Kevin Slowey
Monday Lineups: Twins vs. White Sox
Joe Crede (sore right shoulder) was on the field for batting practice this afternoon. He took some swings and made some throws from across the field. Manager Ron Gardenhire said that Crede reported feeling good following the swings so it’s a possibility that Crede could DH on Tuesday.
The loss of Kevin Slowey from the rotation for the rest of the year is “disappointing,” Gardenhire said. Still, the skipper feels it’s a better alternative than Slowey pitching through pain and risk doing further damage.
The Twins’ depth at starting pitching is now thin — with no real options remaining at Triple-A Rochester. Anthony Swarzak will remain in Slowey’s spot but if the Twins need another starter it likely will come from their bullpen — R.A. Dickey, Bobby Keppel or Brian Duensing.
Also of note, the White Sox do not have a left-handed reliever in their bullpen for tonight’s game. Matt Thornton’s wife went into labor so he left to be with her.
Here are your lineups:
White Sox (51-48)
2nd place in AL Central, 2.0 games back
Scott Podsednik, CF
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Jermaine Dye, RF
Paul Konerko, 1B
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Carlos Quentin, LF
Gordon Beckham, 3B
Jayson Nix, 2B
Josh Fields, DH
Pitching: LHP John Danks (9-6, 3.98)
Twins (49-50)
3nd place in AL Central, 4.0 games back
Denard Span, LF
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jason Kubel, DH
Brendan Harris, 3B
Carlos Gomez, CF
Nick Punto, SS
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Pitching: LHP Glen Perkins (5-6, 5.55)
Slowey expected to miss rest of season
Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey will undergo surgery on his right wrist to remove a bone chip and he’ll likely miss the rest of the season.
Slowey, who was put on the disabled list on July 4 with a strained right wrist, had been trying to rehab the injury but suffered a setback on Friday. While preparing for a start with Triple-A Rochester, Slowey was unable to play catch and the team shut the pitcher down.
After speaking with team doctors and trainers on Monday, Slowey said the decision was made for him to undergo surgery. The recovery and rehabilitation time following surgery is 2-4 months.
Slowey, who was 10-3 with a 4.86 ERA this season for the Twins, expects to head to Baltimore and have the surgery performed by hand specialist, Dr. Thomas Graham.
“It’s difficult,” Slowey said of the timing. “I’ll continue to be here and hang out with the guys and do everything that I can to get back as quickly as possible. I think the most important thing for me is to get ready for next year now, to get this done and to prepare for being able to be part of the team as soon as possible.”
The injury stems from an incident last September when Slowey was hit on the wrist by a Juan Uribe line drive during a start against the White Sox. Slowey said doctors told him he had a pre-existing bone chip that was aggravated by the blunt force. At the time, Slowey had a cortisone shot in his wrist.
While he had some pain in the wrist doing everyday things, Slowey said it didn’t bother him pitching until a couple of starts before the All-Star Break.While he tried to rehab from the injury, Slowey said he realized Friday that he could not continue on with the pain.
Mauer gets a day off
Relax everyone, nothing is wrong with Joe Mauer. The time had just come when manager Ron Gardenhire felt that his catcher needed a breather and after Mauer went 0-for-6 for the first time in his career last night while catching 12 innings vs. the Rangers, today seemed like the perfect time.
I’ll have more on Mauer’s recent slowdown at the plate in a story a little later. But for all the emails I’ve been getting blaming the Home Run Derby for Mauer’s recent slump, here’s the reality — it goes back further than the All-Star Break.
So everyone just take a step back. Forget about all the concern surrounding the All-Star catcher and realize he’s still hitting .358 (yes, that’s impressive.)
News today….Kevin Slowey (strained right wrist) threw a bullpen session and felt good. He’ll throw another bullpen on Wednesday before flying to join Triple-A Rochester. Slowey will start for Rochester on Saturday and then a decision will be made on whether he needs a second start before rejoining the ballclub.
Joe Crede (mild strain of the AC joint in his right shoulder) is still sore, but the doctors expect the anti-inflammatory medication to help get rid of the soreness in a couple days. At that time Crede should be ready to get back in the lineup.
The Twins are facing left-hander Gio Gonzalez for the first time tonight. Left-handers have done much better against Gonzalez than right-handers (.455 vs. .316). So Gardenhire said he wanted to make sure to keep Jason Kubel in the lineup.
Twins (47-45)
3nd place in AL Central, 2.0 games back
Denard Span, LF
Nick Punto, SS
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jason Kubel, DH
Delmon Young, DH
Brendan Harris, 3B
Mike Redmond, C
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Pitching: RHP Nick Blackburn (8-4, 3.06)
A’s (38-51)
4th place in AL West, 14 games back
Adam Kennedy, 3B
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Scott Hairston, CF
Matt Holiday, LF
Jack Cust, DH
Kurt Suzuki, C
Daric Barton, 1B
Ryan Sweeney, RF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Pitching: LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-2, 6.29)
Trying to close out the 1st half on a winning note
The Twins are going for a series win over the White Sox today in their last contest before the All-Star Break. Minnesota enters the game at 44-44 so a victory would guarantee the club with a winning first half.
Kevin Slowey has been backed up in his throwing program. He didn’t throw on Sunday and won’t throw again until Wednesday. So Anthony Swarzak will remain in the rotation for now. The hope had been that when Slowey came back that Swarzak could move into the bullpen.
Still manager Ron Gardenhire said that he expects the club to add a pitcher to the roster by Friday, moving the club back to a 12-man pitching staff. It’s unclear yet just who that pitcher will be. Some of the possible options at Triple-A Rochester are Jesse Crain, Rob Delaney and Juan Morillo.
Bobby Keppel said his hamstring issue was just a minor thing and he should be available to pitch today. But the Twins will also have Francisco Liriano and Swarzak in the bullpen to help if needed. Gardenhire said that Liriano would only be used to face a lefty or two while Swarzak could be used for an inning.
Lineups
White Sox
Scott Podsednik, CF
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Jermaine Dye, RF
Jim Thome, DH
Paul Konerko, 1B
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Chris Getz, 2B
Gordon Beckham, 3B
DeWayne Wise, LF
Pitching: Mark Buehrle, LHP
Twins
Denard Span, LF
Brendan Harris, SS
Joe Mauer, DH
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Joe Crede, 3B
Mike Redmond, C
Carlos Gomez, CF
Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: Scott Baker, RHP
Happy Fourth of July!
With the 16-inning game not ending last night until after midnight, it’s already been a busy Fourth of July for the Twins. The club now gets ready to host the Tigers for Round 2 of the series and the hope for both clubs is that their bullpens won’t be needed much in this one.
Manager Ron Gardenhire said that his bullpen isn’t in too bad of shape. He’ll try to stay away from Matt Guerrier, who threw two innings, and Brian Duensing won’t be available after throwing 3 2/3. So who is available? Joe Nathan, Jose Mijares, R.A. Dickey, recently called up Anthony Swarzak and even Scott Baker, who didn’t throw a pre-game bullpen session in case he’s needed.
UPDATE: So much for staying away from Guerrier. He’s now pitching the eighth inning. Guess he was good to go.
The real hope is that Francisco Liriano can give the Twins a long outing.
Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are both in the lineup, with Mauer playing as the DH. Gardenhire said that Mauer arrived early to the ballpark to tell him that he was good to go. Joe Crede gets a rest after playing all 16 innings on the turf. So Brian Buscher gets the start at third in his place.
As for Kevin Slowey, Gardenhire said that the pitcher will fly to Baltimore on Sunday and see a specialist there on Monday about his strained right wrist. It’s the same doctor that Slowey saw over the winter about the injury.
While Slowey’s wrist hadn’t affected him on the mound until Friday night, Gardenhire said that it had been sore when the pitcher was doing everyday things — like opening doors. Slowey has been getting treatment on the wrist all season, but now that it flared up while throwing he’ll get it checked out again.
“The kid’s got 10 wins. It hadn’t been an issue,” Gardenhire said. “He’s been throwing great
until the last couple of outings. In St. Louis, he said he was feeling
fine. We were worried about his ribs more than the hand, and whether
either one had an effect just hasn’t been an issue until all of a
sudden now. He said yesterday when we took him out that the ball felt
like a leaded ball. That’s what he told me in the dugout.”
Here are today’s lineups:
Tigers
Curtis Granderson, CF
Placido Polanco, 2B
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Marcus Thames, DH
Ryan Raburn, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Dusty Ryan, C
Adam Everett, SS
Pitching: Edwin Jackson, RHP
Twins
Denard Span, CF
Brendan Harris, SS
Joe Mauer, DH
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, LF
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Brian Buscher, 3B
Jose Morales, C
Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: Francisco Liriano, LHP
Day Game finale in Brew Town
Coming off last night’s stunning 4-3 loss late to the Brewers, the Twins are back at Miller Park and trying to prevent their second straight Interleague series loss.
While the clubhouse was awfully quiet on Wednesday night after the game, the mood this morning was loose and back to normal. I think everyone knows that today’s contest will be a big test for the club to bounce back and get this roadtrip off to a good start. The Twins have struggled in day games this season, going 8-17 in them so far.
As for news this morning, Nick Punto is back in Minnesota to get his rib cage checked out. Manager Ron Gardenhire said that he expects Punto or another middle infielder to join the team in St. Louis on Friday for the start of the series with the Cardinals. That means the club is hoping to have some sort of news on Punto today about what exactly is causing the soreness in his ribs.
The problem for the Twins is that if Punto has to go on the DL, their middle infield options to replace him are limited. Alexi Casilla is currently sidelined with a groin injury at Triple-A Rochester, so Steve Tolleson might be the club’s other option. Tolleson has been hitting well — batting .327 in 25 games — but the reports are that he’s struggled some defensively for the Red Wings.
Right now, Gardenhire said that his backup at second base is Michael Cuddyer and that Cuddyer might even see a start at the position this weekend in St. Louis. Cuddyer seemed to welcome the opportunity when I talked to him this morning. He said he’d have to borrow an infielder’s glove since his is not with him on the trip, but he already started fielding some balls at second just in case.
Kevin Slowey is set to make his start on Saturday. He had a little stiffness following a throwing session on Wednesday, but pitching coach Rick Anderson said that Slowey made it through another session this morning without any problems. So the right-hander will be on the mound for Saturday’s day game in St. Louis, which is expected to be sweltering with temperates in the upper 90s.
Joe Mauer felt good to play today so he’s back in the lineup, but that means he’ll likely get Saturday’s day game in St. Louis as his day off. Gardenhire said he also checked with Joe Crede on Thursday morning but he was ready to play as well.
So here are today’s lineups for the rubber match:
Twins
Denard Span, CF
Brendan Harris, SS
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, LF
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Joe Crede, 3B
Matt Tolbert, 2B
Scott Baker, P
Brewers
Craig Counsell, 2B
Casey McGehee, 3B
Ryan Braun, LF
Prince Fielder, 1B
Corey Hart, RF
Mike Cameron, CF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Jason Kendall, C
Mike Burns, P
Kelly's Corner 