Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey met with reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) today at the Twins’ spring camp, and provided several injury updates. The news is particularly good for Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco, as Falvey said both players are on track to be in the lineup on Opening Day.
“Relying on our medical folks on what they think are the best next steps…but they’re still telling us that [Opening Day is] in play barring anything changing. And both guys’ feedback has been positive,” Falvey said.
Buxton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in September, while Polanco didn’t play after August 27 last season due to knee inflammation. Polanco tried to return in September, but was shut down during a minor league rehab assignment when his left knee continued to feel sore. With an eye towards both these injuries, the Twins have been slowly easing Buxton and Polanco into spring activity, restricting both players to live batting practices and backfield workouts rather than any game action. It isn’t yet clear when either player might make their Spring Training debut, but it seems as though the club doesn’t feel Buxton or Polanco will need too many at-bats to get sharp.
A little over a week after suffering a high ankle sprain during a Grapefruit League game, Nick Gordon has started running and hitting, Falvey said. Naturally any kind of high ankle injury is a concern, but it would seem that Gordon might have landed on the low end of the “wide range of outcomes” manager Rocco Baldelli mentioned last week when discussing possible recovery timelines. The Twins will be cautious with Gordon but, if all continues to go well, he might also be on target for Opening Day without the need for a season-opening stint on the injured list.
Jose Miranda is also making good progress in his recovery from a sore shoulder, as Falvey said the infielder has started a throwing program. While Miranda’s shoulder forced him to withdraw from Puerto Rico’s World Baseball Classic team, it hasn’t kept him entirely off the field in Spring Training, as Miranda has still been able to play as a designated hitter. With just under three weeks to go until Opening Day, Miranda seems on pace to recover in time to take his planned role as Minnesota’s regular third baseman.
Amidst all these positive updates, however, the news isn’t quite as good for Alex Kirilloff. In…
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