A late scratch for Friday's series opener with the Indians, Minnesota Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe has not recovery as hoped from his thumb injury and could be headed to the disabled list according to Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com.
Plouffe injured his thumb a week ago while playing Kansas City and has been held out of action since. Friday's opener with the Indians at Target Field was supposed to mark Plouffe's triumphant return to the lineup after a seven-day layoff, but more soreness in his thumb popped up during batting practice and manager Ron Gardenhire opted not to take any chances.
Viewed as one of the American League's most pleasant surprises for his mid-summer power surge, Plouffe smacked 11 home runs in the month of June alone to run away with Minnesota's starting third base job at a vital time. Although nearly every baseball pundit predicted that the 26-year-old infielder would come back to Earth in the second half of the season, Plouffe has maintained an impressive .302 average in July.
With a trip to the 15-day disabled list likely on the horizon, the Twins will need to decide whether to call-up Chris Parmelee or Danny Valencia to take over third base duties in the meantime. Clearly neither player presents the type of offensive threat that Plouffe does, so hopefully the Twins will be able to get their third baseman of the future back before long.
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