Hulking lefty swinging 1B Kent Hrbek burst onto the scene for the Twins in 1982 when he finished 2nd in the A.L. Rookie of the Year Voting. It was also the only time Hrbek made the All-Star team. Hrbek played in 140 games in 1982 for the Twins and he was 160 of 532 (.301 avg, .848 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 23 homers, 92 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Hrbek’s best season with the Twins came back in 1984 when he finished 2nd in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Hrbek played in 149 games in 1984 for the Twins and he was 174 of 559 (.311 avg, .906 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 27 homers, 107 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Hrbek played in 1,747 games in his 14 years with the Twins and he was 1,749 of 6,192 (.282 avg, .848 OPS) with 903 runs scored, 293 homers, 1,086 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Hrbek is #8 in Twins’ history in games played with 1,747. He’s also #10 in runs scored (903), #6 in doubles (312), #2 in homers (293), #2 in RBIs (1,086) and he’s #5 in walks (838) in Twins’ history. Hrbek was a key player for the Twins’ World Championship Teams of 1987 and 1991.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher Francisco Liriano has been so awful this year that the Twins might yank him out of the rotation if he doesn’t right the ship soon. Liriano has started 5 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 1-4 with a 9.13 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP. He has given up 27 hits and he has walked 18 batters in his first 23 2/3 innings as he has been downright awful. The Twins are going to stretch 26-year old righty Kevin Slowey on his rehab assignment to start, so Liriano is running out of time.

The Minnesota Twins have placed starting LF Delmon Young on the 15-day disabled list due to ribcage soreness. Young has played in 16 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 13 of 57 (.228 avg, .566 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers, 6 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Twins have called up 24-year old lefty swinging outfielder Rene Tosoni to replace Young on the active roster. Tosoni came into this season as the Twins’ #12 ranked prospect according to Baseball America. Tosoni has played in 18 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 19 for 66 (.288 avg, .848 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 301 games in his first five years in the minors and he is 304 of 1,069 (.284 avg, .822 OPS) with 182 runs scored, 27 homers, 165 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. Jason Kubel and Jason Repko will likely get most of the P.T. in LF while Young is out of action.

24-year old righty swinging shortstop Trevor Plouffe came into this year as the Twins’ #24 rated prospect according to Baseball America. Plouffe has played in 11 games so far in AAA-ball this year and he is 13 for 40 (.325 avg, 1.146 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 4 homers, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He got his first taste of the majors with the Twins last year and it didn’t go too well. Plouffe played in 22 games for the Twins last year and he was 6 for 41 (.146 avg, .460 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. He also whiffed 14 times without walking for the Twins last year. Still, it’s hard to judge him on such a small sample size especially because his P.T was so inconsistent. If he continues to play well while Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert continue to struggle, Plouffe will be the Twins’ starting shortstop in no time.

26-year old switch-hitting Alexi Casilla and 29-year old switch-hitting Matt Tolbert are adding nothing to the Twins so far this year. Casilla has played in 17 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 6 for 43 (.140 avg, .382 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Tolbert hasn’t been too much better. Tolbert has played in 15 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 6 for 32 (.188 avg, .469 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Tolbert has only whiffed 3 times this year so far but he hasn’t walked as he has been a hacker. Time is running out for both of these guys unless they start hitting a little bit.