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Nationals Select Jacob Young, Transfer Stone Garrett To 60-Day IL

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1:15PM: The Nationals have now made it official, announcing that they have selected Young’s contract. In corresponding moves, infielder Jeter Downs was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and Garrett was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Garrett suffered a fractured fibula earlier this week and underwent a season-ending surgery yesterday, as Nats manager Davey Martinez informed the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden and other reporters.

11:51AM: The Nationals are calling up outfield prospect Jacob Young, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (X link).  Young will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in a game, which could be as early as today against the Marlins.  The Nats will need to make at least one corresponding move, since Young isn’t on the 40-man roster.

Young is a University of Florida product who was a seventh-round pick for the Nationals in the 2021 draft.  Playing in A-ball for his first two pro seasons, Young has made a quick progression in 2023, starting in high-A ball and now moving all the way up to the majors.  Hitting well at both the high-A and Double-A levels, Young has only played in four Triple-A games, appearing in Rochester for the first time just earlier this week.

Over 496 total minor league plate appearances this season, Young has hit .305/.376/.418, with six homers and an impressive stolen base ratio of 39 steals against seven times caught.  This comes on the heels of Young’s 52 steals (in 59 chances) at A-level Fredericksburg in 2022.  Pundits rate Young as plus-plus speed, with Baseball America’s scouting report noting “some scouts called him one of the best baserunners they have ever seen.”

This skill alone makes the 24-year-old Young an interesting player to watch, though the rest of his game might need some polish.  BA ranks Young 24th among Washington prospects and MLB Pipeline ranks him 30th, as Young doesn’t have much power and is reliant on his speed to beat out a grounder-heavy approach.  His defense is promising, since Young has mostly played left field in the pro but has also seen time as a center fielder and right fielder, as well as a couple of games at second base.

With Stone Garrett likely out for the season due to a leg fracture, the Nationals have some need for outfield help.  Young figures to join Lane Thomas, Alex Call, Jake Alu, Blake Rutherford, and utilityman Ildemaro Vargas in the outfield mix, as the rebuilding Nats continue to evaluate their young talent while quietly playing some quality baseball in recent weeks.  Washington has a 24-15 record since the All-Star break.

Dodgers Sign Oscar Mercado To Minor League Contract

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The Dodgers have signed outfielder Oscar Mercado to a minor league deal, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports (via X).  Mercado will report to the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate.

After signing a minors contract with the Cardinals last November, Mercado had his deal selected and he appeared in 20 games for St. Louis before being designated for assignment at the start of July.  Mercado opted for free agency rather than accept an outright assignment, and while he landed pretty quickly with the Padres on another minor league deal, he hit the open market again earlier this week when he exercised an opt-out clause in that contract.

Mercado’s path has now taken him to Los Angeles, where he’ll try to become the latest player to resurrect his career in Dodger blue.  The 28-year-old made his MLB debut in 2019 with Cleveland and finished eighth in Rookie of the Year voting that year, though his star dimmed after a lot of struggles at the plate.  Mercado went back and forth between the Guardians and Phillies on a pair of waiver claims that put him back in Cleveland for the remainder of the 2022 campaign.

Mercado is still a very solid hitter at the minor league level, including a .308/.379/.544 slash line over 283 Triple-A plate appearances this season.  While his career MLB slash line is a much more modest .237/.289/.388 over 973 PA, he has hit left-handed pitching generally better, and Mercado also offers skills beyond the bat.  He can play all three outfield positions in above-average fashion, and he is a quality basestealer, with 25 swipes in 29 attempts at Triple-A this year.

The Dodgers already have plenty of outfield options on their MLB roster, though Mookie Betts has still seen a good deal of second base action and L.A.’s overall hitting depth took a hit when J.D. Martinez was placed on the 10-day injured list.  Mercado might essentially take the minor league depth spot ticketed for Jake Marisnick before Marisnick suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined until mid-September due to a 60-day IL placement.

Felix Bautista Leaves Game Due To “Arm Discomfort”

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Felix Bautista left last night’s 5-4 Orioles win over the Rockies with an apparent injury.  The star closer had recorded the first two outs of a save situation, but after throwing the fourth pitch of an at-bat against Michael Toglia, Bautista looked to be somewhat shaken up on the mound.  Bautista then departed the game with a team trainer, and Danny Coulombe took over to record the final out.

In a postgame discussion with MLB.com’s Byron Kerr and other reporters, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said “Bautista left the game with some arm discomfort.  He is still being checked out.  I’m not going to discuss it any further than that.  We are going to get a bunch of tests and see how it is.”

At this stage, it is too soon to tell whether or not Bautista’s issue is anything serious, or perhaps just a minor tweak that will only sideline him for a game or two.  Still, even the possibility of a Bautista injury is a very notable storyline, as the closer has been such a key part of Baltimore’s rise to the best record in the American League.

Exploding onto the scene with a big rookie season in 2022, Bautista has taken things to an even higher level this year.  The 28-year-old has a 1.48 ERA and a whopping 46.4% strikeout rate over 61 innings, converting 33 of 39 save opportunities.  While his 11% walk rate is concerning, Bautista has been almost untouchable when he has been able to find the zone, and his four-seamer (averaging 99.6mph) is among the most dominating pitches in the sport.

The nature of Bautista’s injury isn’t known, but this isn’t the first time he has dealt with some manner of arm trouble.  His offseason work and entry into Spring Training was hampered by some shoulder problems as well as knee soreness, though Bautista overcame both injuries and entered the season none the worse for wear, given his subsequent success.

Losing Bautista for any amount of time would be a big setback for the Orioles’ chances of winning the AL East (they hold a three-game lead over the Rays), or their chances of making a deep run into October.  If Bautista was out of action, setup man Yennier Cano would be the logical candidate to step into the closer role, with Coulombe then becoming the top setup option.  Conceivably, Hyde could divide the save opportunities between the right-handed Cano and the left-handed Coulombe based on specific in-game situations.

Rockies, Charlie Blackmon Have Mutual Interest In New Contract

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Charlie Blackmon is slated to become a free agent for the first time in his career, as the veteran outfielder is in the final season of the five-year, $94MM extension he signed with the Rockies back in April 2018.  However, it seems possible that Blackmon could end up remaining in Colorado, as both the player and the team have interest in continuing the relationship.

Rockies GM Bill Schmidt told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that the club is “very interested” in retaining Blackmon, adding that “Charlie would provide a good leadership structure for our young guys.  And he can still play.”  From Blackmon’s perspective, he said he would be open to playing for a new team, “but Colorado is certainly my first choice….Right now, I’m not thinking about any other options.”  Blackmon also left open the possibility of retirement, stating “I’m not saying officially, either way,” that he plans to play in 2024, but “there is definitely a possibility I’ll come back.”

Between the Rockies’ last-place record and a fractured hand that cost him almost two months of action, it has been a difficult season for Blackmon, despite some solid personal statistics.  The 37-year-old is hitting .285/.372/.463 with seven home runs over 285 plate appearances, translating to a 113 wRC+.  This would be Blackmon’s best offensive performance (and first above-average season at the plate) since 2019, when he posted a 127 wRC+ as part of a 32-homer campaign.  While Blackmon’s hard-contact rates haven’t been good, he is at least making a lot of contact, as he has one of the lowest strikeout rates of any batter in the league.

Despite these numbers, Blackmon’s age and relative lack of defensive utility figures to limit his free agent market, perhaps capping him at one guaranteed year or a one-year deal with a club/vesting option.  A two-year contract might be feasible with the Rockies as a nod to his long history with the team, as Blackmon has played all 13 of his Major League seasons in the Mile High City.  As Schmidt noted, Blackmon has stature as a clubhouse leader, which is important for a team that is counting on an upcoming core of young players to get the franchise back on track.

Blackmon has played only right field for the last five seasons, with the UZR/150 metric loving his glovework while other defensive metrics rank him as average or below average on the grass.  Since the National League instituted the designated hitter, Blackmon has spent more time as a DH than as a right fielder, and that usage is likely to continue into 2024 should Blackmon indeed return to Colorado.

Michael Toglia figures to get regular looks at both first base and in right field next season, so a scenario exists where the Rox could use Blackmon in right field whenever Toglia has infield duty, and then the DH spot could be rotated between Blackmon and other players.  Of course, Kris Bryant is also a factor, and as Saunders notes later in the piece, Bryant and manager Bud Black have both been open to the possibility of Bryant playing mostly as a first baseman next year.  Nolan Jones’ emergence will make him a regular in the Rockies’ lineup in some fashion next year, though Jones has played more left field recently and that might be his primary position in 2024 even if Colorado does toggle him around to a few different positions.

Giants Sign Cody Stashak To Minors Deal

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The Giants signed right-hander Cody Stashak to a minor league contract earlier this month, and Stashak made his debut appearance with Triple-A Sacramento yesterday.  The 29-year-old had been pitching for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League before the Giants purchased his contract.

A 13th-round pick for the Twins in the 2015 draft, Stashek made his big league debut in 2019 and saw some action for Minnesota in each of the next four seasons.  Over 72 total innings in the Show, Stashek posted a 4.13 ERA, an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate, and a very strong 4.7% walk rate.  That latter stat is all the more impressive considering Stashek’s rough 2021 season that saw him a 13.3% walk rate over 13 2/3 innings, leading to a 6.89 ERA.

Stashak was bouncing back pretty well from that 2021 disappointment when he hit another roadblock — a labrum tear in his throwing shoulder that required season-ending surgery in June 2022.  The rehab kept Stashak out of action for over a year, and he’d only made two appearances with Lancaster before the Giants came calling.  (Stashak initially became a free agent last November, when he elected to pursue the open market rather than accept an outright assignment to the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate.)

Now that Stashak is apparently healthy again, there’s no risk for the Giants in seeing what the righty do in an affiliated minor league setting, and there’s a chance Stashak could even figure into the club’s bullpen plans down the stretch.  San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has hit paydirt on more than a few under-the-radar pitching acquisitions during his tenure in the front office, and Stashak’s (albeit limited) track record of MLB success indicates that he might have something more to offer.

Giants Promote Kyle Harrison

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August 22: The Giants have now made this official, selecting Harrison and reinstating righty Ryan Walker from the paternity list. To open active roster spots, right-hander Sean Hjelle and outfielder Heliot Ramos were optioned. To open a 40-man spot for Harrison, infielder Mark Mathias was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Mathias was placed on the injured list a week ago due to a right shoulder strain. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from August 14, which rules him out until the middle of October. Barring a lengthy postseason run by the Giants, it seems his season is over.

August 20, 3:58 pm: Giants manager Gabe Kapler confirmed to reporters, including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, that Harrison was poised to be promoted. He’ll start the Giants’ game against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

10:14 am: The Giants are calling up top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (via X).  Earlier today, the Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly wrote that San Francisco was “strongly considering” promoting Harrison during an upcoming series with the Phillies, and Murray says that Harrison is being aimed to start Tuesday’s game.  San Francisco will need to make another transaction before then to create a 40-man roster spot for the left-hander.

The promotion makes for a nice late birthday gift for Harrison, who turned 22 on August 12.  It is quite possible that the southpaw would have already made his MLB debut if it wasn’t for a hamstring strain that put him on the injured list for almost all of July, but after pitching in three Triple-A games since his return from the minor league IL, Harrison has been deemed ready for his first taste of the Show.

It doesn’t seem as though Harrison will be taking on a full-fledged starter role, as Baggarly notes that Harrison might work in more of a piggyback capacity on Tuesday, perhaps not throwing more than 3-4 innings.  Harrison has had a limited workload for much of the minor league season, as he has topped the 80-pitch threshold only three times and has only once thrown as many as five innings in a single outing.

With this in mind, Harrison looks to become the latest member of a patchwork Giants rotation that has recently featured only two regular starters.  Beyond Logan Webb and Alex Cobb, a group led by Jakob Junis, Alex Wood, Sean Manaea, and Ross Stripling have made limited starts, piggyback outings, or have worked as bulk pitchers behind an opener.  This collection took a hit yesterday when Stripling was placed on the 15-day IL due to a back strain, and Sean Hjelle was recalled from Triple-A to work as a long reliever or bulk pitcher.

It’s not an ideal situation for a team fighting for a wild card berth, so there will be a bit of a bigger spotlight than usual on Harrison as he becomes a big leaguer.  However, Harrison has dealt with plenty of hype as his prospect stock has risen over the last few years, since being selected by the Giants in the third round of the 2020 draft.  In recent midseason updates to their prospect rankings, MLB Pipeline listed Harrison as the 20th-best prospect in the sport, while Baseball America slotted him 35th on their latest listing.

There’s no secret about Harrison’s biggest weak point, as he has a hefty 16.3% walk rate over 67 2/3 innings with Triple-A Sacramento this year.  This shaky control (and pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League) has contributed to Harrison’s 4.52 ERA, though he also has a tremendous 35.6% strikeout rate.

Both Pipeline and BA give Harrison a 70-grade for his fastball and a 60-grade for his slider, and he also has a good changeup that is still improving.  Two plus pitches and the possibility of a third has created plenty of buzz about Harrison as a possible front-of-the-rotation starter, though the big question is naturally whether or not Harrison can improve his control and command.  As Pipeline’s scouting report puts it, Harrison is “still learning to harness his enhanced stuff, though his ability to miss bats in the strike zone with all three of his offerings means that he doesn’t need to locate them with precision.”

However the Giants opt to manage Harrison’s workload among the rest of the pitchers, it seems likely that the club will limit him to less than 50 innings in the regular season, so he can retain his rookie eligibility for 2024.  As per the rules of the Prospect Promotion Incentive, the Giants can receive a bonus pick in the 2025 draft if Harrison earns a full year of MLB service time in 2024, and he either wins the NL Rookie of the Year award or has a top-three finish in NL Cy Young voting during any of his pre-arbitration seasons.  Harrison must be ranked as a top-100 prospect by at least two of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, or ESPN.com in their pre-2024 lists to fully qualify as a PPI-eligible player, thought that seems like a foregone conclusion.

Beyond the 50-inning threshold, pitchers also have to have less than 46 days on a Major League roster to retain rookie eligibility.  That date on the 2023 league calendar passed last week, so it isn’t surprising that Harrison and other notable prospects like the Reds’ Noelvi Marte, the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn, and the Angels’ Nolan Schanuel have all been called up within the last few days alone.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Poll: Who’s Going To Win The NL Central?

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With the Cardinals’ surprisingly disappointing season taking them out of contention early, the NL Central has been thrown wide open in 2023.  Even the Pirates looked like they might have a breakout in them after an impressive 19-9 start in April, though their subsequent struggles have shown that the Bucs aren’t yet out of the rebuilding woods.

That has left three teams still in the mix, as the Brewers, Reds, and Cubs enter Sunday’s action battling for not only the NL Central title, but playoff berths of any sort via the wild card.  Milwaukee holds a three-game lead in the division, while the Cubs are just narrowly ahead of Cincinnati by percentage points, which also puts Chicago into the final NL wild card slot.

In something of a topsy-turvy year in the division, the Brewers have been the constant.  Milwaukee has spent the entire season either in first place, or no more than two games behind the NLC lead.  This success has come despite a middling Pythagorean record — the Brewers have outscored opponents by just a single run, yet have a 67-57 record.  With tiebreakers possibly looming as a factor, the Brewers have already won the season series with the Reds (with a dominant 10-3 record) and have a 4-3 edge in games against the Cubs.

As per usual, the Brew Crew has leaned on their pitching to win games, even their usually strong rotation has been more good than great in 2023.  A number of injuries have impacted the pitching mix, most notably a shoulder strain for Brandon Woodruff that cost the former All-Star about four months of action.  Milwaukee’s best pitching performances have come at the back of the bullpen, as closer Devin Williams and setup man Joel Payamps have been arguably baseball’s best one-two endgame combination.  This ability to hold close leads has been the main factor in the Brewers’ 25-11 record in one-run games, though that kind of anomalous success might hint at some regression.

While Milwaukee’s pitching has helped prop up a lackluster offense, the Reds have something of the opposite problem.  The emergence of Cincinnati’s core of top prospects has been one of the top stories of the 2023 season, as rookies Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Will Benson have all helped carry the Reds out of a rebuild and to a 64-60 record.  Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Noelvi Marte have also made their MLB debuts to add to this position player core, not to mention the contributions of Jonathan India, Jake Fraley, TJ Friedl, and the ageless Joey Votto.

With a 29-35 record on June 9, the Reds suddenly shot into relevance and contention with a 12-game winning streak, and they’ve stayed afloat ever since, despite a rough 1-8 start to the month of August.  Beyond the question of how the rookies can hold up under pennant race pressure, Cincinnati’s bigger issue is a lack of pitching, as Reds starters rank in the bottom three in the league in both ERA and WHIP.  The returns of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Ben Lively from the injured list are being counted on to boost the rotation, as the Reds didn’t acquire any starting pitching at the trade deadline.

Just a month ago, the idea of the Cubs competing for the NL Central title would’ve seemed inconceivable, as the Wrigleyville nine had a 43-50 record.  Just when it looked like Chicago might be one of the key sellers at the trade deadline, however, the team caught fire.  The Cubs went 18-6 over 24 games between July 18 and August 12, finishing second in baseball in runs (160), RBI (151), average (.291), slugging percentage (.508) and wRC+ (135) in that stretch.  Cody Bellinger’s huge run at the plate fueled a lot of that offensive eruption, but unheralded minor league signing Mike Tauchman wasn’t far behind Bellinger’s numbers.  The late success turned the Cubs into deadline buyers, and after coming back to Chicago in a deal with the Nationals, Jeimer Candelario has also been on fire.

Chicago’s rotation has been solid overall, yet it took a big hit with the news that Marcus Stroman will miss the next several weeks recovering from a rib cartilage fracture.  Losing one of their two best starters for an extended period (and maybe even the rest of the season) will test the Cubs’ starting depth, and the lineup might have to keep carrying the load to keep the team in the race.

With apologies to the Cardinals and Pirates, we’re going to assume that a miraculous late-season surge isn’t coming, so we’re going to limit the poll choices to the top three contenders. Who do you think will finish atop the NL Central standings?  (Link to poll for app users)

Who will win the NL Central?
Brewers 54.36% (5,757 votes)
Cubs 33.97% (3,597 votes)
Reds 11.67% (1,236 votes)
Total Votes: 10,590

Mariners Sign Nick Wittgren

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The Mariners have agreed to a deal with right-hander Nick Wittgren, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via X).  The contract is presumably a minor league pact, as Wittgren was previously playing on a minors deal with the Royals before he became a free agent earlier this week.  Since Wittgren has over five years of MLB service time, he had the right to choose free agency when the Royals tried to option him to Triple-A.

A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Wittgren was released by the Cardinals in July 2022 and didn’t land with a new club until signing his minor league contract with the Royals in December.  K.C. selected him to the 26-man roster in May, and Wittgren had a 4.97 ERA over 29 innings in Royal blue.

It’s not a big improvement over his 5.32 ERA with Cleveland and St. Louis in 2021-22, but while advanced metrics indicate that Wittgren was a little unlucky to post such an ERA in those seasons, his SIERA this year is 5.03.  While Wittgren hasn’t really been a big strikeout pitcher throughout his career, his K% has plummeted over the last two seasons.  He has done an excellent job of keeping the ball in the park in that same time span, yet batters have been making hard contact.

Wittgren did pitch well at Triple-A Omaha this year, and he was a very reliable bullpen arm in his heyday as recently as the 2020 season.  The 32-year-old will give the Mariners some more experienced relief depth as they prepare to try and thread the needle between staying in contention and managing the innings of their several young pitchers.  Seattle is already set to go to a six-man rotation to help keep everyone fresh for the pennant race (and, the M’s hope, into October), and more bullpen help will also be required.

Giants Place Brandon Crawford On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants announced that shortstop Brandon Crawford has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left forearm strain.  The placement is retroactive to August 19.  Outfielder Luis Matos was called up from Triple-A to take Crawford’s place on the active roster.

This is Crawford’s third IL stint of the season, as he missed roughly three weeks total due to a calf strain and left knee inflammation.  Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that Crawford’s forearm issue was impacting his swing, which explains why Crawford has only a single hit in his last 31 plate appearances.  The club’s initial plan was to give Crawford a couple of days off, but he’ll now get at least 10 days to recover.

In a little over 14 months, Crawford has now made five different trips to the injured list.  Recurring knee problems have led to the majority of those placements, and he was also briefly shut down during Spring Training this year due to more knee discomfort.  The injuries have short-circuited what looked like a late-career revival for Crawford, who finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2021 for delivering a huge performance in his age-34 season.

Crawford has hit only .194/.264/.318 over 270 plate appearances in 2023, and while his glovework has still been excellent, it surely isn’t the platform Crawford wanted for the final guaranteed year of his contract.  While Crawford was somewhat non-committal last winter about the possibility of playing beyond the 2023 season, a year of injuries and struggles at the plate isn’t how the longtime Giants shortstop would want to wrap up his outstanding 13-year career.  The severity of the forearm strain isn’t yet known, so it isn’t clear if Crawford could be in danger of missing the remainder of the 2023 campaign.

Casey Schitt was called up from Triple-A yesterday, and the Giants also recently selected the minor league deal of Johan Camargo.  These two players will likely handle shortstop duty while Crawford is out, and Thairo Estrada has also seen some time at the position this season.

Twins Considering Using Byron Buxton In Outfield

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Byron Buxton played through knee soreness for much of the 2022 season, eventually resulting in an arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late September.  In the aftermath of that procedure, the Twins took a caution approach in returning Buxton to action, to the point that the former Gold Glove and Fielding Bible award-winning center fielder has played exclusively as a DH for the entirety of the 2023 season.  The strategy hasn’t entirely worked in keeping Buxton healthy, as he missed two weeks in June due to a rib contusion and hasn’t played since August 1 due to a hamstring strain.

Buxton has started taking part in baseball activities as he works his way back from the hamstring problem, and this time off might also contribute to getting Buxton back into the outfield.  As Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press), the club is at least considering the possibility of giving Buxton some limited time in center field.

“His legs are probably going to be in the best position possible for him to be able to play in the outfield after this period of time,” Baldelli said.  “If it’s going to happen this season, it’s going to be after recovering and building himself up.  And it’s going to be now.  This is going to be his best opportunity.”

The plan is by no means set in stone, since as Buxton put it, “my biggest thing right now is just getting back on the field however that’s possible.”  This means no setbacks, and getting through some minor league rehab games before returning to Minnesota’s lineup in any capacity.  That said, a minor league rehab assignment would provide an avenue for Buxton to maybe log some actual game action as a center fielder, as a way of re-acclimating himself to the grass after not playing in the outfield for almost a full calendar year.

Buxton is naturally looking forward to the idea of perhaps once again playing his regular position, and giving some Minnesota some extra roster flexibility during the pennant race.  Buxton’s fate will be determined by “how the body feels, how the knee feels, how everything all together feels.  So for me, it’s putting us in the best situation so when we do get to that spot, get to the playoffs, to make sure that I’m in the lineup.”

Despite a modest 64-60 record, the Twins have started to take command of the lackluster AL Central, holding a five-game lead on the second-place Guardians entering Sunday’s action.  While there’s plenty of baseball left to be played, Buxton’s return to the outfield could both help the Twins in the playoffs, and ease their path in clinching the division crown.

Michael A. Taylor has handled most of the center field action with Buxton relegated to DH duty.  Taylor is a superb defensive player in his own right, but not much of a hitter, with only a .220/.270/.423 slash line over 324 plate appearances for the Twins this season.  If Buxton is able to start in center field once or twice per weeks, the Twins can take Taylor out of the lineup and use the open DH spot for any of several better bats vying for playing time.

How this reshuffled lineup might look is still an open question, as beyond Buxton, the Twins are also waiting to see how Willi Castro, Alex Kirilloff, Nick Gordon, and possibly Jose Miranda return from their own stints on the injured list.  A revolving door of injuries has kept Minnesota from fielding its first-choice lineup for basically the entire season, though rookie like Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner have also played well enough to earn regular or semi-regular playing time.

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