The Minnesota Twins injury list is already growing, and the season hasn't even started for real yet.
The club announced on Sunday that infielder Brooks Lee and right-handed pitcher Brock Stewart will begin the season on the injured list.
Lee, the No. 8 overall pick by Minnesota in the 2022 draft out of Cal Poly, had been dealing with lower back tightness during spring training and was sidelined for the first two months of the 2024 season with a herniated disk in his back.
Once promoted from Triple-A last summer, the rookie batted .221 with three home runs and 27 RBIs in 50 games for the Twins.
The Athletic's Dan Hayes told the WCCO Morning News that Lee has dealt with back issues before.
"He has a sore, kind of mid-upper back," says Hayes. "Last year he was out three months with a herniated disc. He says this is different. He's hopeful that it's something that will clear up quickly here, and that it's only a matter of weeks. But obviously that's a setback for him."
Stewart sustained a left hamstring injury but also underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder last August. Stewart's injury is something he's been battling for a while according to Hayes.
"I think we all kind of knew that he was gonna start on the IL," he told Vineeta Sawkar on WCCO Monday morning. "He had a hamstring thing a couple of weeks ago in camp and he was coming off of shoulder surgery last year. By all accounts, the shoulder is good and in place, but he hasn't gotten the kind of workload that they would like for him to have, so he is a little bit slower to start. He's going to start in minor league camp. He threw in a game the other day and threw 96 (mph), but gave up a home run in the minor league side. And they want him to throw in back-to-back games and be able to show consistency. I think he's getting there and he's also hopeful it's a very quick one."
The Twins already were without third baseman Royce Lewis for opening day because of a strained left hamstring. An MRI revealed a moderate sprain after Lewis hurt himself running out a grounder in the Twins’ Grapefruit League game Sunday against the Boston Red Sox.
Lewis, 25, has a history of injuries. He played in 82 games last season due to quadriceps and adductor issues. That followed a 2023 season in which he played 58 games while working through injuries to his oblique and his hamstring.
Minnesota won the AL Central in 2023 then finished in fourth last season thanks to a bevy of injuries to players like Lewis, pitcher Joe Ryan, shortstop Carlos Correa and centerfielder Byron Buxton.
The Twins are going to need to stay healthy to compete for a postseason spot in a very competitive American League Central, with Cleveland, Kansas City and Detroit all making the postseason in 2024 and returning solid teams this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.