Minnesota Twins: Can They Get Healthy Enough to Contend in the AL Central?

It has undoubtedly been one of the more frustrating seasons in recent memory for the Minnesota Twins and their fans. Uncharacteristic play in the field, a Triple-A quality bullpen, and a severe lack in run production has added up to a season of misery for a team that was expected to once again contend for a division title in 2011. And while the team experienced a bit of a resurgence earlier this month, they have relapsed over the last week, dropping six straight games, including an embarrassing 15-0 drubbing at the hands of the Dodgers on June 27.

How can a franchise that has dominated the AL Central with six division titles in the last decade fall so far, so fast? Clearly, the biggest factor has been the staggering amount of injuries that manager Ron Gardenhire has had to deal with. In fact, it has been so bad that outfielder Michael Cuddyer and third baseman Danny Valencia are the only projected everyday starters coming out of spring training to not spend time on the disabled list this year. Amazingly, the season opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays is the only full series this year where the Twins actually fielded their normal starting lineup.

While having to fill out a different lineup card nearly everyday, Gardenhire has to wonder when, or if, things will ever return to normal. Twins fans are wondering the same thing. Look up Murphy’s Law in the dictionary and I’m quite confident there is now a team photo of the 2011 Minnesota Twins. Then again, there have been so many different players to wear the uniform that it’s hard to believe the photographer could fit everyone into the same picture.

Whether it was Tsuyoshi Nishioka’s broken leg, Joe Mauer’s much-maligned “leg weakness”, Jason Kubel’s foot, or Justin Morneau’s neck, each injury has had a significant effect on the team’s performance and ability to gel. And while it has also provided an opportunity for some of the organization’s prospects to showcase their talents at the big league level (think Ben Revere), it has generally left fans wondering how good this team would be if everyone were healthy. This has made for an extremely frustrating season for both Twins fans and especially for Gardenhire, who was asked Monday to sum up the Twins injury situation and where it left his ballclub.

“We haven’t been able to have the same team out there to have a handle on it,” he said. “There have been a lot of different parts we’ve had to fill in.”

With the season just about at the halfway point, the big question is whether or not it’s too late for this year’s team to recover and contend for the division crown. With Morneau out until at least August and Delmon Young out indefinitely with a severe ankle sprain, this team will have to piece it together as it has done in years past.

If you consider the fact that they play in the AL Central, a division that has yet to be taken control of, and the fact that the starting rotation has been as good as any in all of baseball over the last six weeks, there is certainly hope.

The next three months will go down in one of two ways. Will this team overcome the constant revolving door of the disabled list and make things interesting in September? Or will the dog days of summer see the Twins fade out of contention, ravaged by injuries to nearly every key player? Something tells me not to count this team out just yet.