FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As of Sunday morning, it seemed the Twins¡¯ position-player roster situation was coming into clearer focus. A few hours later, it was looking more muddled again.
Infielder Mickey Gasper, who appeared to be on track to make his first Opening Day roster, suffered a left ankle laceration during the team¡¯s 9-3 win over the Red Sox at JetBlue Park, and his status for Thursday¡¯s opener in St. Louis is unclear. Meanwhile fellow infielder Brooks Lee will begin the year on the injured list due to a lower back strain.
Starting at second base on Sunday, Gasper -- who had already homered to lead off the game -- collided with shortstop Brandon Winokur as both tried to field a groundball in the bottom of the second inning. He was taken to the clubhouse in a golf cart and left the park on crutches. Gasper needed six stitches as a result of the injury, and he suffered some other aches and pains as a result of colliding with a much larger man.
¡°It was a pretty good laceration,¡± said manager Rocco Baldelli. ¡°Winokur is a mule. One guy is going to take the brunt of it when they go into each other. It was just [Gasper¡¯s] ankle, that was what was affecting him. We didn't know that until we got out there. He would have kept himself in the game.¡±
The Gasper injury followed the news earlier in the day that Lee will begin the season on the IL. Third baseman Royce Lewis will also start the year on the shelf after suffering a left hamstring strain earlier in camp. The sequence of injuries leaves the Twins in a tough spot, short of healthy infielders.
Lee hopes his IL stint is relatively short, since the discomfort is located in a different place from his previous back issues.
¡°I still have some aches,¡± he said. ¡°But I think the spasm is most likely gone. I feel way better than last time. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long.¡±
If Gasper is unavailable, then it¡¯s at least possible the position-player side of the Twins¡¯ roster can be deduced. With Lee and Lewis on the injured list, the options in camp are, frankly, limited.
One potential direction would be for DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Austin Martin both to make the roster. In that case, Martin¡¯s duties would likely move more toward the infield after he has played mostly outfield this spring, while Keirsey would serve as the fifth outfielder. Following the news on Lee on Sunday morning but before Gasper¡¯s injury, it appeared they were the two primary contestants for a single remaining roster spot.
Armando Alvarez and Jeferson Morales are both in camp and both have infield experience. But Morales has only 53 at-bats above Double-A and 23 professional games at second base. And Alvarez has not gotten the kind of looks this spring that would indicate he is a serious candidate to beat out someone like Keirsey or Martin. Neither Morales nor Alvarez is on the 40-man roster, meaning the Twins would have to make space in order to add either to the active roster.
All of which means it¡¯s not impossible that Minnesota could look outside the organization for a short-term answer in the infield. It¡¯s the time of year when many teams are trying to pass players, sometimes even established Major Leaguers, through waivers. A waiver claim or a trade could help the club get through while their stock of infielders is low.