The Minnesota Twins' dwindling playoff hopes took another hit on Tuesday when it was revealed that All-Star first baseman Justin Morneau will miss the rest of the season.
Morneau has been fighting back pain for weeks, but a CT scan and an MRI on Monday acknowledged that he has a crack in his lower back.
The injury does not figure to require surgery. Doctors have informed Morneau to rest his back for the coming three month|fall season.
Morneau wounded himself on a headfirst slide into first base on Friday and has not played since.
Prior to this past week's injury, the powerful 1st baseman had previously been playing with tenderness off and on for a good deal of time. Consequently, his numbers have suffered greatly; Morneau was batting just .077 in September to lower his season average to .274. Prior to this dip, he had been hitting over the .300 mark. Having had only 9 hits over a period of 22 games, it was obvious that something was amiss.
"You can play with the pain if you feel like you are helping the franchise or doing something to help your teammates out and victory contests," Morneau insisted. "When you play and you don't feel like you are helping anyone, that is when you have to take a step back and go, 'All right, perhaps I'm doing more damage than good.' "
Despite his troubles of late, Morneau finishes the '09 season with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs. The home run total is higher than his 2008 figure of 23.
Michael Cuddyer should turn out to be the starting 1st baseman in Morneau's absence.
In spite of the condition, Morneau is still optimistic regarding the Twins' chances the rest of the season.
"Hopefully I'll watch the guys embark on a run here and play cheerleader and that's," Morneau claimed.
Morneau has been fighting back pain for weeks, but a CT scan and an MRI on Monday acknowledged that he has a crack in his lower back.
The injury does not figure to require surgery. Doctors have informed Morneau to rest his back for the coming three month|fall season.
Morneau wounded himself on a headfirst slide into first base on Friday and has not played since.
Prior to this past week's injury, the powerful 1st baseman had previously been playing with tenderness off and on for a good deal of time. Consequently, his numbers have suffered greatly; Morneau was batting just .077 in September to lower his season average to .274. Prior to this dip, he had been hitting over the .300 mark. Having had only 9 hits over a period of 22 games, it was obvious that something was amiss.
"You can play with the pain if you feel like you are helping the franchise or doing something to help your teammates out and victory contests," Morneau insisted. "When you play and you don't feel like you are helping anyone, that is when you have to take a step back and go, 'All right, perhaps I'm doing more damage than good.' "
Despite his troubles of late, Morneau finishes the '09 season with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs. The home run total is higher than his 2008 figure of 23.
Michael Cuddyer should turn out to be the starting 1st baseman in Morneau's absence.
In spite of the condition, Morneau is still optimistic regarding the Twins' chances the rest of the season.
"Hopefully I'll watch the guys embark on a run here and play cheerleader and that's," Morneau claimed.
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