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Span To See More Days Off In 2011?

That's what Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire is saying, at least.

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Span started on Opening Day in 2010. . .and didn't get a game off until June 13, when Michael Cuddyer made his only start of the year in center field.

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"I can do a better job as a manager giving him breaks," Gardenhire said of Span. "I think he wore down at the end of the season. He had a lot of at-bats. He takes a lot of pitches, does a lot of things for his teammates and puts himself in a hole to make sure that they see pitches. He does his job. Now, it's my job to make sure I rest him a little bit more, and give him the breaks he needs to get the best out of him."

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The stats do sort of bear that out. After hitting just .211 in March and April, Span hit a blistering .353 in the month of May. . .and then didn't hit better than .264 in any month the rest of the way, bottoming out in September and October when he hit just .236.

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You have to admire Denard Span's willingness to play as many games as possible, but it probably would benefit him to have the occasional break now and then.

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Photographs by Micah Taylor, clairity, and Fibonacci Blue used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.