It turns out Max Kepler was more hurt than the Twins initially thought
After suffering an injury on Opening Day, Max Kepler has officially hit the IL.
In almost no time at all the Minnesota Twins have watched their 26-man roster disintegrate like it had been snapped by Thanos.
The Twins have already placed as many as ten players on the IL, something that started even before Royce Lewis was lost on Opening Day. Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbard, and Justin Topa all began the season injured and are only just now starting to slowly work their way back.
Most of the damage has been out in the bullpen, where Daniel Duarte was placed on the injured list Monday morning before the Twins revealed that Jorge Alcala was dealing with some soreness. Brent Headrick hit the IL down in St. Paul tor round out yet another miserable injury day for the Twins.
It wasn't the end, though.
Twins place Max Kepler on 15-day IL after trying to play through injury suffered on Opening Day
Just a day after the latest bad batch of injury news, Minnesota placed Max Kepler on the 15-day IL with a right knee contusion he had been trying to play through.
Minnesota used the opportunity to address some much-needed bullpen depth by acquiring old friend Michael Tonkin from the Mets. The headline, however, is that Kepler is the latest big name player to get sidelined by an injury.
We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/CaqGAIWo2s
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 9, 2024
That right knee contusion isn't a new injury, rather one that he suffered a few innings after the Twins lost Lewis on Opening Day. Kepler fouled a ball off his knee but remained in the game to finish his at-bat. He wasn't in right field at the start of the next inning and sat out the next few games.
It seemed like he might be getting ready for a stint on the IL, but returned to the lineup for Minnesota's first game against the Brewers on April 2nd. Kepler played in the next three games but was held out of the lineup in the series opener against the Dodgers and has now landed on out of action.
Despite putting him back into the lineup after the Royals series, it seems Kepler was more injured than the Twins thought. It showed, too, as Kepler struggled at the plate hitting just .050 in five games. Hopefully this injury helps explains why he was so bad offensively, and his stint on the IL gives him some time to get things right.
Manuel Margot started in right field on Monday and will seemingly slide in as Kepler's replacement.
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