PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. – The car crash that totaled Mike Quade's SUV on Saturday might have ended his ability to throw batting practice, too.
A magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday revealed that Quade suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder during the accident, and surgery will be necessary to repair it. The longtime manager, who still is considering when to undergo the procedure, will be in a sling for six weeks, and already has been told he cannot pitch batting practice this year.
That's a problem, since BP is a standard duty of minor-league coaching staffs, and "it's more than that to me," Quade said. "I love it. It's something I look forward to." But Rochester hitting coach Chad Allen also needs shoulder surgery — he has four tears in his right shoulder — and while he plans to wait until after the 2017 season to have it repaired, his batting practice availability will be limited this year.
"We'll have to figure out something," Quade said. "All donations accepted."
Quade originally believed he had suffered only bruising in the collision, in which a car rear-ended his SUV at nearly 50 miles per hour while Quade sat at stoplight, setting off a five-car chain reaction. But the soreness persisted, and the Twins had him examined Tuesday.
"I've got to make a decision in the next day or so. The good thing is, if I have [surgery] done now, I'll be out of the sling by the second week of the season," said Quade, who also coaches third base. The other good thing? "I use my left arm to wave runners home."
Quade turns 60 in two weeks.
Silver linings, or not
Nothing good happened at the plate Tuesday in the 19-0 loss to Tampa — except the Twins avoided getting no-hit.
But manager Paul Molitor saw a few things he liked.
He said that lefthander Adalberto Mejia looked pretty sharp in his inning of work.
Righthander Ryan Pressly stranded a runner while pitching a scoreless fifth.
Matt Belisle "threw one bad pitch," Molitor said, referring to one Tampa Bay's Cade Gotta launched for a three-run homer in the seventh.
Molitor also pointed out that a couple of defensive plays didn't help their cause. One was Jorge Polanco's throwing error in the third, his second error of the spring.
First tour over
Michael Cuddyer left camp over the weekend and Torii Hunter's last day as a special instructor was Tuesday. But both will return for a second coaching stint in camp.
Cuddyer and Hunter spent a lot of time working with the outfielders, including the promising outfield of Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler.
Hunter sees a lot of potential in trio — and the rest of the club.
"It's going to be better," Hunter said. "Those 103 losses [last year] was not that team. They will be a better team, for sure, than last year."
On deck
The Twins will play host to the Pirates on Wednesday. Righthander Kyle Gibson will square off against righthander Josh Lindholm.
LA VELLE E. NEAL III
