Injury Update

Michael Cuddyer, left index finger

Cuddyer played in his first rehab game last night with AAA Rochester, going 1-3 with a BB and a SO. Provided all goes well he's expected to be back with the Twins on August 10th.

The return of Cuddyer presents the Twins with a dilemma, four outfielders and three positions. Young, Span and Gomez are playing well right now so it will be interesting to see how Gardenhire juggles the playing time.

Alexi Casilla, 15-day DL, right thumb

Casilla is resting in the hopes that he can get well enough to come back in September. He's wearing a splint and doing rehab but Gardenhire made sure to point out that if there is a chance he will do further damage than he'll be shelved.

Casilla has the promise of being the Twins regular 2B for a while so they won't take any chances with his long term health, and they have a decent amount of infield depth, so it's not the end of the world if he misses the rest of the year.

Pat Neshek, 60-day DL, right elbow

Neshek has been playing catch down in Fort Myers and he has reported no problems so far, but Gardenhire cautioned that "it's still very early in the process."

Neshek would be a big boost to an overworked bullpen down the stretch and add more value to the team than either of the two players above where the Twins have depth, but his return by the end of the year is probably less than 50-50.