Neither Nelson Cruz nor Jorge Polanco nor Luis Arraez nor Max Kepler was placed on the injured list Monday, a positive sign for the limping-along Twins. Then again, none of them were in the lineup, either.
Which raises an urgent question: How long can they go on this way?
"Every day [we're] basically going down our roster, checking on our guys. … Our guys want to play," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "But when there's more than one or two moving parts, when there are four or five moving parts, it does become a little bit more challenging just to figure out how the pieces fit."
Still, the Twins have resisted sidelining any of the four, in hopes their injuries are minor. Cruz hit in the batting cage and his wrist is improving. Kepler is hitting so well, the team hopes he can hurry back from his sore hamstring, but "he still can't really run," Baldelli said. Playing center field "is almost out of the question right now, based on how he's feeling."
No structural damage has been found in Arraez's sore shoulder, giving the Twins hope the pain he sometimes feels when swinging the bat will quickly recede. "He's grinding it out. We're going to treat him day to day and see how he's doing," Baldelli said.
And Polanco, battling through the same right ankle pain that required surgery after the past two seasons, "is doing better," Baldelli said. Polanco took ground balls and a round of batting practice Monday.
Can the battered Twins, particularly Polanco and Kepler, stay off the injured list?
"I don't really think anyone can answer that right now. That's a tough one," Baldelli said. "If the guys are not improving enough on a daily basis, we'll make a decision when we get there. I don't think we're there yet."
Run, Buck, run!
One bit of good news about an injury: Byron Buxton, who admits his recovery from a strained hip has been slower than he had hoped, believes he can ramp up his running program this week.
"Hopefully everything stays on track and that's what we get done. I'm pretty anxious to get back out there," said the center fielder, out since May 6. He has been doing short sprints to test his hip, and he's been taking batting practice in the cage with no pain. Buxton said he expects to play a handful of rehab games for Class AAA St. Paul, but that's probably a week away.
Buxton said he especially wants to return now that he senses a change in the team's confidence level.
"You can tell the demeanor of the team has changed a little bit, everybody starting to be themselves a little bit more and having a little bit more attitude," Buxton said.
Bittersweet departure
During a pregame clubhouse meeting, Twins players and staff said goodbye to Andrea Hayden, the team's assistant strength and conditioning coach for the past two seasons.
"It was a pretty emotional day for her and for a lot of people here," Baldelli said. "She's going to do great things."
She will do them at Stanford, where Hayden — the first woman ever to work in the Twins dugout, and the first to hold a strength and conditioning job in MLB — has been appointed associate sports performance coach for the Cardinal women's basketball team, which won the NCAA championship in April.
"She's going to love what's to come, and I'm going to love watching her," Baldelli said. "The way she came in and connected with our players and our staff was pretty special."
Target Field vaccine
The Twins have an unusual giveaway for fans at Target Field this week, and it's not bobbleheads.
A vaccination clinic has been set up, in cooperation with Cub Pharmacy, near Gate 34, to make shots available for any fans who want one.
The clinic will operate Tuesday and Wednesday, too, starting when stadium gates open (5:10 p.m. Tuesday and 10:40 a.m. Wednesday) and running through the seventh inning of each game.
