Twins get finally catch an injury break with the first positive update in weeks

It's been a brutal stretch for the Minnesota Twins, a team that has lost eight of its last ten games and is being eaten alive by the injury bug.

All of this is happening at the worst possible time, as the Twins remain just 3.5 games out of first place and in control of a Wild Card spot but are losing their grip on the wheel. There's a month left in the season, which is both enought time for Minnesota to get back on course or veer off the road completely.

Injuries have been the biggest thing hitting the team lately. While poor play speaks for itself, the Twins are playing with a deck stacked against them. Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Brooks Lee are all on the IL, Max Kepler's knee doesn't work even if he's playing through it, and both Joe Ryan and Brock Stewart have been lost for the rest of the season.

Things are bleak, but there's at least one ray of sunshine trying to poke through that hopefully starts to turn the vibes around.

Latest Emmanuel Rodriguez injury update is some much-needed good news for the Twins

Top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez has been out since July 8th with what ended up being the third injury to take him out of action for more than a few games. He was named Minor Leaguer of the Month back in April despite missing the last week of the month, and it's been touch-and-go ever since.

E-Rod isn't on a path to make an MLB debut this year, but word of his rehab assignment starting is more about the good vibes it puts in place.

Rodriguez being out has sort of taken the shine off how incredible his season has been. Despite missing a big chunk of the minor league season, he was hitting .298/.479/.621 with a 1.100 OPS at Double-A Wichita.

He's already hitting .286/.375/.571 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs in two games with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. It's a promising bounce back, on that's not at all surprising given his status as a top prospect in the farm system, but is a potentially positive sign that things are about to turn around for the Twins.

Then again, that's leaning on the strategy the front office and ownership had that got Minnesota in this sticky bind to begin with. Rather than invest meaningfully in the roster, the payroll was slashed and the roster reinforcements were nothing more than hopes and wishes that things will work out.

They haven't, which is made even more frustrating watching the Royals have success by doing what the Twins should have done. Nothing can change that now, though, and one of the six-best teams in the American League can do nothing more than hope that stuff like E-Rod bouncing back is a sign that the good vibes will return soon.

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