Twins Place Justin Morneau On Paternity Leave

Justin Morneau Will Be Activated From DL Wednesday

The Minnesota Twins’ Justin Morneau was off to a slow, but decent (113 OPS+) start this season in another attempt to come back from a concussion suffered in 2010, but he was placed on the disabled list with left wrist problems.

He’ll be back to active duty on Wednesday:

#Twins to reinstate Justin Morneau from 15-day DL prior to tomorrow night’s game in Detroit.Option Chris Parmelee to Triple-A Rochester.

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 15, 2012

The Twins could use all the help they can get. Parmelee hit just .185/.250/.272 with the Twins this year, and on Tuesdaya 5-0 loss to the Indians dropped the Twins to 10-26 on the season, ten full games behind the Tribe, who are now in first place in the AL Central. It wasn’t much better with Morneau actually in the lineup — the Twins were 5-15 with him starting — but it can hardly be worse.

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Justin Morneau Will Go Back To Disabled List

The Twins first baseman is headed to the DL again. This time, it's not for anything related to concussions.

MLB.com: Justin Morneau Looking Good So Far This Spring

Earlier this month, Justin Morneau seemed to hit a roadblock in his comeback attempt. Or maybe not. And earlier this week, Morneau suggested that if he continued to suffer concussion symptoms, he would be forced to retire. Which seems obvious, but for some reason that became a story. At least in the Twin Cities.

To this early point in spring training, though, all signs seem positive. MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger:

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau has been encouraged by his first five days in camp, as he's yet to suffer any setbacks or miss any workouts due to concussion-like symptoms.

--snip--

For now, Morneau isn't spending his time worrying about suffering another setback because he's been participating in full workouts with the team without any issues.

He's been working out, doing fielding drills at first and taking batting practice. He also took live batting practice against left-hander Francisco Liriano on Tuesday, and fared well, hitting a homer to center field and another deep drive off the fence on his last swing of the afternoon.

He was particularly happy with hitting the homer, considering Liriano was throwing his full arsenal of pitches.

Not so long ago, Justin Morneau was one of the American League's best hitters. It seems almost impossible an innocuous-looking collision at second base could render him ineffective for a season-and-a-half. Now we can only hope this is where it ends.

Justin Morneau Is Either 'Healthy' Or 'Tortured'

The Twins first baseman is attempting, for the second straight year, to come back from a concussion. The question needs to be asked: "Is it worth it?"