Shield stats and injury report

Luke Hughes remained out the New Britain line up after reportedly "tweeking his hamstring" in a game last week. He has not been placed on the DL and is day-to-day.

The former Miracle infield gained recognition earlier in April after a career month in which he batted .352 (35-for-99) with six double, a triple and 8 home runs, 20 runs and 18 RBIs.

The hot start was attributed in part to Hughes playing winter ball, appearing with Team Australia in the World Cub series, and then going to to participate in Australia's Claxton Shield.

I admit to overlooking the Claxton Shield in my reporting this year, so I thought I'd give you a big of statistical uselessness from the tournament:

                   AVG  GP-GS  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG%  Current
Berg, D.           .400  9- 9  40  8 16  1  2  3   7 30 .750  Twins High-A
Atherton T.        .357 10- 8  28  7 10  4  1  0   5 16 .571  Twins Extended/GCL
Rutgers, P.    .319 12-12  47 15 15  5  0  1   7 23 .489  Released-Low A
Hughes, L.         .304 12-12  46 11 14  6  0  0   2 20 .435  Twins AA
de San Miguel, A.  .289 11-11  38  5 11  3  0  1   5 17 .447  Twins High-A
Lysaught, M.       .256 12-12  39  7 10  4  0  0   0 14 .359  Released-Rookie
Oeltjen, T.    .200  6- 6  25  4  5  1  1  0   3  8 .320  Arizona AAA

Oeltjen, down at the bottom of the list, is hitting .301 with 21 runs, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 8 RBIs in AA Tucson. Berg is hitting .321 in 9 games for the High A Miracle, with 8 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 6 RBIs. He spent time on the DL this season, which accounts for his low playing time. de San Miguel, who is the Miracle's back up catcher, is hitting .108, 4 hits-37 at bats, 3 runs, 1 double, 3 RBIs.

Australian pitching is somewhat different than what these players face in the minor leagues here in the states, but it usually equates to the player's average going down, (Berg, de San Miguel), not up (Hughes, Oeltjen).

In other news, former Miracle Pat Neshak will likely miss the rest of the season with UCL tear in his elbow. Neshak, who is currently with the Major League Twins, had an MRI exam on Friday revealed an acute partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

As a result of the injury, Neshek will not be allowed to do any throwing for a minimum of three months, meaning that it would be very close to the end of the season by the time he's even close to pitching again.

But while it seemed to be the worst kind of news, Neshek didn't look at it that way. The ulnar collateral ligament is the same one that is replaced in Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. However, Neshek said the doctors believed that his injury could be treated with rest and rehabilitation and not surgery.

"Obviously it's really bad," Neshek said in a Twins press release. "But it's good I can come back and rehab this instead of having to go through surgery and sit out for a good year."

Neshek suffered the injury in the eighth inning of Thursday's game against the White Sox in Chicago. The pitcher said he felt something in the elbow "tweak and roll over" when he threw a slider to Joe Crede, the third batter he faced in the inning. Neshek exited the game immediately following that pitch and was originally diagnosed with a right elbow strain.

Neshek has been given the majority of the eighth-inning spots so far this season for the Twins. He earned the role as the team's primary setup man last season and went 7-2 with a 2.94 ERA, a .183 batting average against and 74 strikeouts over 70 1/3 innings. So far this season, Neshek had posted a 4.73 ERA over his 13 1/3 innings.

In a similar story, Nick Punto remained sidelined with some lingering soreness in his left hamstring. Punto is currently on the 15-Day DL, is expected that he will miss several more games before rejoining the Twins line up.



Twins prospect Andrew Thompson left extended spring training. His back continues to plague him and it is reported he will take another year off to try to heal. Thompson already missed the entire 2007 season, last appearing in a professional game in Beloit in 2006 here he hit .261 through 74 games. He has played on and off on rehab assignments in extended spring training, but has not been able to manage with his injury. Former Miracle pitcher Kyle Waldrop is also expected to miss the season after having surgery on his shoulder. Supposedly there was no damage tot he rotator cuff or labrum, but it's a big setback for Waldrop none the less.

1st base prospect Henry Sanchez also had surgery, on the knee he injured last year. He is likely done for the 2008 season as well.

Mike Allen, Estarlin De Los Santos, Jose Leger and Lee Martin have all participated in extending spring training games on rehab recently, and are on track to play at some point this season.