It took almost all of Spring Training, but the roof feels like it's caving in on Minnesota Twins fans. The sky isn't falling, but it certainly feels that way given the barrage of bad news the team has experienced this week.
Byron Buxton getting scratched with lower back tightness was the least bad thing that happend, which tells you all you need to know. Minnesota deemed his injury 'minor' and he returned to the lineup later in the week but that's where the good vibes stopped rolling.
Not long after Buxton was scratched on Monday, the team revealed that Jhoan Duran and Caleb Thielbar would start the season on the injured list, while it seems thatAnthony DeSclafani's season might already be over. He's getting further testing done, but the fear is that Disco is done before ever throwing a regular season pitch.
Louie Varland moved into the fifth starter role and promptly got rocked by Detroit in what was his first bad start of the spring. As if all of that wasn't bad enough, Max Kepler was scratched on Wednesday with pectoral tightness and top prospect Brooks Lee exited Thursday's game early.
Twins provide Brooks Lee injury update after top prospect left Spring Training game early
Lee ran out a double play in the first but never came back out of the dugout when the defensive half of the inning starter. Kyle Farmer took his pace at second base, which caught the attention of more than a few fans as panic started to spread across Twins Territory.
Thankfully, Bobby Nightengale passed along word from the Twins that Lee's early exit wasn't due to anything serious.
Brooks Lee left the game with a lower back spasm, the Twins announced.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) March 21, 2024
It's still far from ideal, but thankfully it doesn't appear to be anything serious. All of this happening against the backdrop of the recent bad injury luck Minnesota has experienced also makes this a sigh of relief -- which gives you a good indication of just how stressful things are right now.
Lee could very well be back in the lineup tomorrow but he'll likely rest up until the weekend. Minnesota only has five Spring Training games left on the schedule before Opening Day, and Lee isn't expected to make the 26-man roster.
That means we're looking at the last few games of getting a good look at him before he eventually gets called up this season. He'll begin the year at Triple-A, but ideally he starts the season healthy and without any lingering issues from his back spasms.