Surprise Reinforcements on the Way for Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins have continued to work towards chasing down the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. Despite having one of the best records in baseball, they trail in their own division. Rocco Baldelli is about to add a pair of healthy hitters back into his lineup.

Minnesota Twins lineup is about to get healthier

Brooks Lee went on the injured list August 9th, with it being retroactive to August 8th. This wasn’t related to the back injury he dealt with to start the year, and right biceps tendonitis has kept him out for over two weeks. He will play for the St. Paul Saints over the weekend.

Alex Kirilloff will begin a rehab assignment at St. Paul today and Brooks Lee is scheduled to play Saturday, Rocco Baldelli announced.

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) August 23, 2024

Alex Kirilloff has been out since the Minnesota Twins since June. He was told there would be a demotion to Triple-A, and after not showing up, made Baldelli aware that he had an injury. Instead going to St. Paul, the former first round pick wound up on the 60-day injured list. He too will return to action for the Saints on Friday.

UPDATE: Alex Kirilloff’s rehab assignment has been shut down — Read More

It remains to be seen what sort of a rehab assignment both players will need. Lee has been swinging from both sides for the past week, and recently settled back in on the dirt. His timeline would seemingly be much quicker.

Where do Brooks Lee and Alex Kirilloff fit?

Make no mistake, Lee and Kirilloff are not in the same situation. The former was promoted to play premium positions on the infield as Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis missed time.

Related: MLB Expert Believes This is the Minnesota Twins Greatest Asset, Come October

Kyle Farmer being activated took that spot, but there would seem to be room for him when he is ready to go. The greatest thing working against Lee is his .642 OPS in 26 games.

Brooks Lee crushes his first Major League home run! 👏 pic.twitter.com/VsZEkITf9C

— MLB (@MLB) July 6, 2024

The latter owns a .653 OPS and is nearly 1,000 plate appearances into his big league career. Kirilloff hasn’t lived up to his prospect promise. The decision to demote him also still plays a part. The rosters expand just two spots now, and that could make getting Kirilloff a locker difficult.

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Minnesota needs a healthy trio of Byron Buxton (who was not activated on Friday), Correa, and Lewis. Both Lee and Kirilloff being options is a positive reality, but the lineup has held serve. It’s a sprint to the finish, and one the Twins need to win.