It's been a bumpy summer for the Minnesota Twins, a team that finds itself equal distance away from making the playoffs and being on the outside looking in.
The Twins are chasing both the Cleveland Guardians and Kansas City Royals for a division title, but have a 3.5 game lead on the Boston Red Sox for the final Wild Card spot. It's looking like that's how Minnesota will get into the postseason, although two massive series in September could flip the board.
Minnesota has a three-game series next weekend against the Royals and a four-game series in Cleveland starting September 16th. Depending on what happens, the Twins could either enter the final weeks of the season in control of the AL Central or clawing to get back into the Wild Card race.
If a nightmare scenario is to be avoided, though, the Twins will need their best players in the lineup which is currently not the case.
Byron Buxton is 'ahead' of Carlos Correa but no real timeline is known
It seems we're all caught in a frustrating holding pattern with Minnesota's two best -- and highest-paid -- players.
Byron Buxton has been out since August 12th when he injured his hip, while Correa hasn't played since July 12th as he battles plantar fasciitis in his right foot. While that's not the foot he had an issue with last season, it is the one near the ankle that was famously flagged in medical reports from the Giants and Mets.
That's likely why there has been extra caution with getting Correa a rehab assignment, and it's creating anxiety among fans that his season could be over. Minnesota hasn't gone that far yet, and Correa has been mildly optimisitc about his return, but it's starting to look like Buxton is going to make his way back before his teammate does.
Rocco Baldelli didn't give an exact timeline, but noted that Buck is ahead of Correa in his recovery.
Max Kepler (knee) has another day off. Rocco Baldelli said they would work him out today and see how he feels.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) August 30, 2024
No real update on Byron Buxton (hip) or Carlos Correa (foot) but Baldelli did say Buxton was ahead of Correa at this point.
That's still not ideal. The Twins are 3.5 games out of first place in the AL Central but are only ahead of Boston by that exact same amount of games. Teetering on the brink doesn't get any closer than what Minnesota is doing, and not having either Buxton or Correa in the lineup isn't helping.
Brooks Lee expected to return to Twins lineup in September
One the flipside of the injury coin, it sounds like Brooks Lee is going to be returning to the Twins lineup in the very near future.
Roster expansion is happening in September, and The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman predicts that's when Lee will be back. The Twins rookie has been out since August 9th with a shoulder injury but has been rehabbing at St. Paul.
MLB teams can expand their active rosters for September from 26 to 28 players, starting Sunday.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 30, 2024
My guess is the #MNTwins will add one hitter and one pitcher, and I'd expect Brooks Lee to be the hitter.
Lee (shoulder) is rehabbing with Triple-A St. Paul for now.
Lee got off to a hot start when he was called up to make his debut in early-July but he started to drop off toward the end of the month. It seems that the shoulder injury he went on the IL with correlates with that dip in production, but all looks to be right again based on how he looks with the Saints.
Getting his bat back will be huge. Lee was hitting .300/.341/.475 over his first ten games with the Twins, but his average dropped down to .253 after he slumped to close out July. Not only will he potentially add some firepower on offense, but his glove will be a useful piece of the defensive puzzle.
More Minnesota Twins news and rumors