Lineup might get healthy by next week

The Twins are hopeful that they could soon see the return of injured regulars Michael Cuddyer and Alexi Casilla.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: August 5, 2008 - 1:09 AM

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SEATTLE - It can be argued that the Twins finally have their 12 best pitchers available now that lefthander Francisco Liriano has been called up from Class AAA Rochester.

The Twins can now look ahead to the possibility that they will have their best position players at their disposal.

This week is significant, as outfielder Michael Cuddyer heats up at Rochester during a rehabilitation stint and infielder Alexi Casilla rests a torn ligament in his right thumb.

Their return could provide the club a boost as the Twins on Monday began a stretch in which 20 of their next 29 games were on the road.

Cuddyer, who has missed a month because a strained tendon in his left middle finger, hopes to return by Monday. The Twins struggled some against lefthanded pitching before winning four games last week that were started by lefties. Cuddyer, largely because of injuries to both hands, has struggled, batting . 252 with three homers and 35 RBI in 62 games.

If his hands are healthy, the Twins expect him to hit and help them even more against lefties. Even with their recent run of success against southpaws they are only 19-15 in games started by a lefthander.

"He and I talk a lot," Twins catcher Mike Redmond said. "Nobody is champing more at the bit to come out and help this team win. I think he's going to come back at the right time. We're going to need him. We're going to need that boost to get back to the promised land."

The Twins have been on the lookout for righthanded-hitting help. Manager Ron Gardenhire said Cuddyer's return could be like adding that bat to the middle of the order.

Gardenhire's challenge will be to return Cuddyer to right field while finding at-bats for the other outfielders: Span, Jason Kubel, Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young.

"I think the good part and the hard part is how am I going to use them all," Gardenhire said. "That's the hard part. But the good part is that you'll have all these options."

There has been no talk of using Cuddyer in the infield again. A move from the outfield to the infield at this time of year is considered unrealistic.

Casilla's return is a little more iffy. He is going to rest his right hand for a week and see if the pain subsides. The Twins will dodge a big bullet if Casilla can play.

"He said he thinks he can hit righthanded right now. That's a good thing," Gardenhire said. "If he's feeling good enough to hit righthanded, maybe after a few more days he's going to come out and go, 'Hey, this feels OK,' a little tape job and go out there and see what he can do.

"If this is something that he can't do any more damage to. can play through it, then he will. If there's a risk of him hurting himself even more, then we will not take that risk."

It would be easy to sit back in amazement that the Twins have surged into first place in the AL Central without Cuddyer, their No. 5 hitter, and Casilla, who energized the offense from the No. 2 spot after being called up in May.

Then again, the Twins have, for the most part, absorbed injuries well.

"One thing that I've noticed over the four years I have been here is that I've been amazed as how many times we have had guys go down and have somebody else come in and step in for those guys and get big hits," Redmond said.

"This year is another great example of that. Cuddy is out and we bring Denard Span in and Lexi getting hurt but, thankfully, Nick Punto has come back, which is huge."

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