An unhappy ending, again

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Justin Morneau

For the third season in a row, slugger Justin Morneau's season has finished in pain and frustration, just when the Twins need him most.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: September 16, 2009 - 7:30 AM

Print this story

TWINS 5, CLEVELAND 4

Up next: 12:10 p.m. today vs. Cleveland • No TV (1500-AM)

More from Twins

Right now, it looks like a chronic issue for the Twins.

For the past three seasons, Justin Morneau has been among the most dangerous hitters in the American League, only to wear down and hit a wall.

Morneau, 28, has battled back problems and gained praise for playing through pain. This week, he realized he could have done long-term damage by unwittingly playing with a stress fracture in his lower back.

"He needs the time off so he doesn't jeopardize his career," Twins hitting coach Joe Vavra said Tuesday. "Basically that's what we were looking at."

So what, exactly, happened to Morneau this time, how is this different from other years, and what can be learned so the Twins aren't dealing with this every year?

First, some background: Morneau was the 2006 American League MVP and finished strong that year, batting .345 with 20 RBI over the season's final month.

In 2007, Morneau smashed 28 home runs by July 23 but batted .222 with three homers over the final two months. Still, the only games Morneau missed that year were because of a bruised lung, and the Twins rewarded him with a six-year, $80 million contract.

Last year, Morneau was a potential MVP again until mid-September but batted .169 with no homers over the final 15 games, and the Twins missed the playoffs. Though Morneau played all 163 games and never offered an excuse, manager Ron Gardenhire said the first baseman played through lower-back and leg pain.

"You look at the last few years, and you say, 'Boy, there's been a dropoff,'" Vavra said. "What can you point to? Well, the back, and trying too hard to carry the team."

Morneau's back began bothering him again late in spring training this year, though he said that was mid-back and muscle-related, not a lower-spine issue like he has now.

While Morneau's status for the season opener was briefly in question, it became a non-story as Morneau played in 117 of the first 118 games. He made his third All-Star team. On July 26, he led the AL with 26 home runs and 82 RBI. Though his production slowed, he was still batting .301 on Aug. 15.

Then, another dropoff.

Over his final 20 games, Morneau batted .100 (7-for-70) with two homers. Early in that stretch, Morneau missed a week with dizzy symptoms but was treated for an inner-ear infection and insisted he was fine.

Only Monday, when the Twins announced he was out for the season, did Morneau reveal his lower-back had been hurting for three to four weeks.

"Because he's had that issue in the past, a sore back, I think he thought he could get through it," Vavra said. "It was, 'OK, here we go again.'"

Morneau finally had an MRI exam last weekend, and when that showed lower-back swelling, he had a CT scan, which showed the stress fracture in the L5 vertebra.

Though he won't need surgery, the expected recovery time is three months.

"It's impossible to say if I would have hit better if my body felt better," Morneau said. "I know I wasn't doing any good to help the team."

One blessing to this could be that Morneau will have his workouts limited until mid-December. Last offseason, he was doing full workouts by November.

"If there's anything he can do differently with his back, I'm sure our trainers or our strength [and conditioning coach] will figure that out," Gardenhire said.

But Morneau said he doesn't plan to do much differently, other than "maybe just cutting down a little bit on my swings." Another option is scaling back his playing time.

"You first have to fight the big guy to come out of the lineup," Gardenhire said. "He doesn't like to sit out too many games."