If there's been one consistent thing about the Minnesota Twins this season, it's how awful thier injury luck has been.
Before Opening Day even rolled around as many as five players were already on the IL, soon to be joined by the likes of Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa, and Max Kepler. Some of the guys initially hurt to start the year, like Jhoan Duran and Caleb Thielbar, are working their way back but it seems like the Twins simply can't catch a break.
Nothing is more evident than the strange saga we've already been on with Brooks Lee.
Minnesota's top prospect this side of Walker Jenkins was in the running to make the team at the end of Spring Training, but an injury ended whatever hope he had. Lee started the season on the IL with what the team was calling back spasms but has turned out to be far more serious than first thought.
Brooks Lee has 'significant' back injury that will sideline him even longer
Aaron Gleeman tucked away an update on Brooks Lee into his Monday column and every Twins fan in the world wish he hadn't -- or it contained better news. Lee was initially expected to miss the first four weeks of the season, which already wasn't ideal but it seems his injury was worse than initially feared.
"That timeline has come and gone, and a Twins source toldThe Athletic that Lee’s back injury is now viewed as more significant," Gleeman reported. "According to a team source briefed on the situation, Lee is about three weeks into a two-month rehab plan."
Lee's injury couldn't have come at a more inopportune time.
Had he not been hurt it's almost certain that he'd be on the 26-man roster right now as an injury replacement to either Lewis or Correa. Even with the first missed opportunity there was the belief that he'd get called up at some point before Lewis returned, but now that seems to be in doubt with this latest update.
It's also worth noting that this isn't the first time the Twins misjudged an injury, which is a concerning trend. Max Kepler fouled a ball off his knee on Opening Day but didn't hit the IL until sometime later after the team refused to put him on the IL. A similar thing happened with Carlos Correa, although his injury was reclassified after MRI results came back.
Lee not being ready to come up for at least a few months throws more than a few plans out of whack, but above all it just serves as another twist of the knife in a season that already feels like it's spiraling out of control.