Jason Castro isn’t in the lineup today, but he was activated before the game, so he is available if he’s needed today. It’s been 10 days since Castro took a foul ball to the mask in Chicago and suffered a concussion, but most symptoms disappeared within a day or two. The Twins took it slow with him, though, having had some bad experience with catchers’ concussions in the past.
“We had him take his tests yesterday, what he needs to do for clearance,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said, and they showed no evidence of lingering effects. MLB gave the go-ahead, and the MLB players association did too this morning, so Castro was officially activated from the disabled list. Chris Gimenez will do the catching today, though. Figure Castro getting the start tomorrow in St. Petersburg, where the Twins will depart for after today’s game. Niko Goodrum gets his first major-league start, too, albeit at designated hitter.
On the mound, today’s matchup appears to be a mismatch, but that can change in a hurry, of course. Ervin Santana starts for the Twins, who went 5-1 during his starts in August. Ian Kennedy starts for the Royals, and he’s been terrible lately, putting up a 9.57 ERA in six August starts.
Speaking of pitching, Paul Molitor announced today that Aaron Slegers will make his second big-league start on Wednesday against the Rays, replacing Dillon Gee in the rotation for now.
Here are the lineups for today’s game, as the Twins try to catch New York for the first wild card slot:
ROYALS
Merrifield 2B
Cain CF
Cabrera LF
Hosmer 1B
Perez C
Moustakas 3B
Orlando RF
Moss DH
A. Escobar SS
Kennedy RHP
TWINS
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
Polanco SS
Rosario LF
Buxton CF
Kepler RF
E. Escobar 3B
Gimenez C
Goodrum DH
Santana RHP
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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