ST. LOUIS — The Twins hoped that Luis Arraez's sore right knee, which flared up when he tried to dive for a Jose Abreu line drive in Chicago, wouldn't need a lengthy stint on the injured list. They were right.
But they aren't so lucky with Taylor Rogers.
Arraez was activated on Saturday, the first day he was eligible to return, and was immediately inserted in the cleanup spot, the first time he's batted fourth since Sept. 3, 2019. (Gilberto Celestino, 8-for-59 in 23 games with the Twins, was returned to Class AAA St. Paul.)
Arraez will play third base tonight, not the outfield, an indication that Josh Donaldson's own flare-up — his right hamstring grew tight as he stretched just before Friday's game, and the Twins chose to scratch him rather than risk something more serious — isn't over yet. Donaldson took ground balls during batting practice this afternoon, however, so he must be feeling OK.
Same goes for Taylor Rogers' who Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said before tonight's game is not likely to return this year after injuring the pulley tendon in his left middle finger. Baldelli hedged, saying it's still possible that Rogers could recover by late September, but conceded the initial diagnosis was more dire.
Rogers has received a medical opinion this week that surgery might be avoided with sufficient time to heal, a treatment plan Baldelli said the All-Star reliever is leaning toward, "but I don't want to rule anything out before we have all the information," Baldelli said.
Bailey Ober is on the mound for the Twins tonight, another pitcher who has never batted since high school. Wish him luck — Griffin Jax said he was proud to have made contact during the Twins' 5-1 loss here Friday night. "Man, I forgot how fastballs look from that angle," he joked.
Here are the lineups for today's 6:10 p.m. game with the Cardinals:
TWINS
Kepler CF
Rooker LF
Polanco 2B
Arraez 3B
Sano 1B
LarnachRF
Jeffers C
Simmons SS
Ober RHP
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CARDINALS
Carlson RF
Goldschmidt 1B
Arenado 3B
O'Neill LF
Molina C
Bader CF
Edman 2B
DeJong SS
Woodford RHP
