One day after the Twins announced Tsuyoshi Nishioka had been shut down for the final two weeks of the regular season, the Japanese infielder said his first year in Major League Baseball has been one big learning experience.
Unfortunately for Nishioka, most of the lessons he has learned have been hard ones.
"It has been a season in which everything has gone wrong," he said through his interpreter Saturday. "In a long life [everyone] has one like this, and I think 2011 was a year in which everything went the other way."
In recent weeks, Nishioka tried to play through a strained right oblique muscle, with little success. So the Twins decided to keep him off the field so he can recover properly and begin an offseason program to prepare him for what likely will be a make-or-break year in 2012.
As soon as he recovers from his injury, Nishioka plans to jump right into training for next season -- a change from how he usually approaches his offseasons.
"In Japan, the season ends pretty much about the same time [as MLB] and I usually take October, November and December off from baseball activities," Nishioka said. "But this year I'm hoping to get back and practice from October. I think that's why I'm preparing for the offseason now and the start of training."
Nishioka was shut down the same day as catcher Joe Mauer, who has been diagnosed with mild pneumonia and ordered to stay home. There's a good chance they will be joined by first baseman Justin Morneau, who can't shake concussion symptoms and also is battling a stomach virus. Morneau wasn't at Target Field on Saturday, either.
And outfielder Jason Kubel's season is in jeopardy because his bruised left foot has bothered him more in recent days. For these Twins players, the chance to try to finish the regular season on a positive note is gone. Kubel has appeared in only 99 games. Mauer, Morneau and Nishioka each will miss at least 70 games because of injuries.
