Twins reliever Brian Fuentes was hailed as a steal of an acquisition for general manager Bill Smith, but for all the plaudits, he's still only faced one batter as a Twin. Fuentes complained of his back "locking up" two days after retiring Seattle's Russell Branyan to finish the game against the Mariners on August 28; he hasn't pitched since, and Kelly Thieser of mlb.com reports that it's time for further examination:
↵↵↵Fuentes threw a bullpen session on Tuesday at about 70 percent effort, manager Ron Gardenhire said, and when the lefty arrived in the clubhouse on Wednesday he was feeling pretty stiff.
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"They want to get his back checked out," Gardenhire said. "We'll see where we're at, see what's going on.""
Fuentes went on the DL with lower-back problems once already this season, and his continued absence has to be worrying for Twins fans.
↵Meanwhile, slugger Jim Thome was scratched from Wednesday night's lineup with what Star Tribune beat writer Joe Christensen describes as a "mild abdominal strain":
↵↵↵Thome scratched with mild abdominal strain. Taken out for precautionary reasons. He's day-to-day.
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We'll try not to worry too much about this one, but we've all seen those "precautionary" reasons become much more.
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