The Minnesota Twins are in a bad place right now. Not only do they have the league’s worst record, but they also sport the most people on the disabled list.
The latest news to hit the Minnesota Twins is the ushering of Jim Thome and Jason Kubel to the disabled list for 15 days. For Jim Thome this is his second trip this year and for Jason Kubel it is the first trip this season.
Still, this has been a year of horrors for the Minnesota Twins:
- 13 placements on the disabled list.
- 8 current players on the disabled list.
- Their best player on the disabled list.
The whole situation has gotten Ron Gardenhire, the Twins manager, down in the dumps:
I don’t even count any more. Injuries happen in this game. Unfortunately, we’ve had quite a few. Right now we’re looking for bench help. I lost two left-handed hitters today. Some of these kids are not ready to come up here and sit on the bench. There might be somebody in Triple-A who might be ready.
So, how do teams overcome this problem and move on?
Review your training methods. You need to ensure that the training routines and methods in place are not contributing to the injury rate.
Ensure off season training is occurring. Most injuries in the early part of the season are attributable to lack of conditioning.
Communicate to the players. Players need to know that seeking attention with a concern of an injury is better than waiting until their performance is impacted.
The Twins have a long way to go in the 2012 season, so I wouldn’t expect things to get any better for a while.