The team with the best record in baseball enters play Monday a bit nervous after veteran designated hitter Nelson Cruz left Sunday’s loss to the Tigers with an apparent wrist injury.
“Right now we’re kind of in a precautionary [stage], like, let’s make sure we know what we’re dealing with and get him checked out and looked at,” manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game, noting that Cruz will undergo an MRI to learn more about his left wrist injury.
“But I would say these are the things you just want to be careful of. You want to make sure you cover all your bases, check on him in every possible way, make sure we get him looked at.”
Cruz left the game after six innings and wasn’t able to hit in the seventh inning when he would’ve represented the tying run.
“It’s painful,” Cruz said. “That’s the spot you want to be in. But it is what it is.”
#MNTwins slugger Nelson Cruz left Sunday’s game early after hurting his wrist on a swing-and-miss. He gives an update after the 5-3 loss: pic.twitter.com/hbERYmXZiU
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) May 12, 2019
If Cruz, who is hitting .270/.354/.508 with seven homers, nine doubles and 22 RBI, is forced to go on the injured list, the Twins have plenty of options to replace him, including Miguel Sano.
Sano is working his way back from the cut on his heel that kept him out the entire spring, and in 39 plate appearances between Class A Fort Myers, Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Rochester, he’s hitting .303/.359/.606 with two home runs, four doubles and nine RBI.
Sano turned 26-years-old on Saturday.
Minnesota also could give any at-bats vacated by a potential Cruz injury to one of their hot-hitting catchers. If Jason Castro starts behind the plate, then Baldelli could insert Mitch Garver or Willians Astudillo into the DH role, or vice versa with whomever starts at catcher.
