It's been a tough week for the Minnesota Twins, as injuries started to pile up on Monday and games were getting canceled on Friday.
The sky isn't falling, but it sure feels that way after what fans went through. Luckily Opening Day is right around the corner and baseball will officially be back in our lives. That means rain delays will be back as well, but they don't wait until the season starts to roll around.
In the case of Friday's game between Minnesota and Atlanta, it's not so much a rain delay as a straight up cancellation.
Twins cancel Friday's spit squad game vs. Braves
The Twins announced on Friday morning that the game against the Braves had been canceled due to bad weather. It was set to be a split squad game, but the other game is expected to go on as planned since it's an away game for Minnesota.
TODAY’S TWINS – BRAVES SPRING TRAINING GAME CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.
— Dustin Morse (@morsecode) March 22, 2024
Fans are encouraged to visit https://t.co/HXqtpA7COf for detailed ticket information.#MNTwins
The game against Atlanta was at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, where the Twins game against the Rays is over in Port Charlotte where the weather seems to be a little nicer. Really all this means is that the guys who were going to play the split squad portion against the Braves will get some extra rest, which the Twins need all they can get right now.
Brooks Lee was the latest player to run into some bad injury luck. He left Thursday's game against the Nationals in the first inning with what the team later said was back spasms. Given the barrage of injuries the Twins have dealt wit h this week, that was good news -- which tells you how grim things have been.
On Monday there was a Byron Buxton injury scare, although it ended up being nothing more than a minor setback. Later that day the Twins announced that Jhoan Duran and Caleb Thielbar would begin the season on the IL while Anthony DeSclafani might need season-ending surgery. Matt Canterino is also starting the season on the IL, which is a double bummer considering his recent injury issues.
Even Max Kepler wasn't immune to the injury bug, needing to be scratched from Wednesday game with a pectoral issue. All of this is happening with less than a week left before season starts, which isn't exactly the greatest omen.
Last year the Twins were bitten by the injury bug right out of the gate as well, with Kepler and Joey Gallo both hitting the IL within the first week of the season. Gallo's stint gave way to Edouard Julien getting called up, which was one of the best moves the team made all season.
With guys like Austin Martin and Lee waiting for a roster spot to open, it could be that we're just a few injuries away from seeing them finally join the roster.