Minnesota demoted OF-R Michael Cuddyer last week when activating IF-S Denny Hocking from the disabled list. The Twins placed Hocking on the DL April 29th, retroactive to the 22nd due to a bone spur on his right elbow. However, with a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling, Hocking was able to avoid surgery and recover quickly from the injury. Since the bone spur remains present in the joint, Hocking may have trouble with his elbow again later in the season, but even if he decides to have surgery, he shouldn't miss more than six weeks.

At the time of his demotion, Cuddyer was hitting .233 with a .317 OBP and .397 SLG on 17 H, 3 3B, and 2 HR with a 9:16 BB:K and 1/2 SB% in 73 AB. The Twins were having difficulty finding at-bats for all of their outfielders and wanted to keep 1B-L Todd Sears, who they'd called up when Hocking hit the DL, on the roster. I believe the 24-year-old Cuddyer possesses a higher ceiling than the 26-year-old OF-R Dustan Mohr, but Mohr's production levels in the majors have been higher than Cuddyer's to date.

Cuddyer has little to prove at AAA, but he can work on his contact rate, and the Twins have him experimenting at second base to expand his positional flexibility. Until Mohr or Sears slump, Cuddyer demonstrates improved skills at AAA, or the Twins have an injury open a roster spot, Cuddyer likely will remain in the minors.

We discussed Sears when he received a cup-of-coffee last September. As the Twins retained Doug Mientkiewicz this season and Justin Morneau is already attacking AAA, Todd Sears isn't likely to ever hold the Twins' starting first base job. Meanwhile, DH/C-R Matt LeCroy and OF-S Bobby Kielty should monopolize Minnesota's DH at-bats. Consequently, when everyone is healthy, the Twins don't really have any way to fit Sears' bat into the lineup, despite his obvious talents. At the time of his promotion, Sears was hitting .317 with a .360 OBP and .463 SLG on 26 H, 6 2B, and 2 HR with a 5:24 BB:K and 4/4 SB% in 82 AB. In the majors, he's hit .297 with a .386 OBP and .514 SLG on 11 H, 2 2B, and 2 HR with a 5:12 BB:K in 37 AB.

Mientkiewicz ventured into the outfield this week when a sore hamstring sidelined OF-L Jacque Jones, since Kielty was unable to play the field due to a strained right rib cage. If the Twins are comfortable playing Mientkiewicz in the outfield occasionally, they'll likely be less worried about carrying Sears rather than another outfielder.

The Twins as a team seem somewhat fragile lately with most of the offense spending a few days of the last month sidelined. On Wednesday, Matt LeCroy left Minnesota's game against the Royals with a broken nose after Runelvys Hernandez lost control of an inside pitch, which hit off LeCroy's helmet before bouncing into his nose. Like many of his teammates, LeCroy will avoid a DL trip, but doctors want him to remain on the bench through this weekend because strenuous activity might lead to bleeding.

While Minnesota activated RHP Mike Fetters from the disabled list on April 20th and demoted RHP Juan Rincon, Fetters aggravated his hamstring injury 10 days later, causing the Twins to reverse the move. Rincon's strikeout rate is down over a K/9 this season while his walk rate is slightly elevated, but the Twins defense has given him better support and kept his hit rate low, so he currently has a 1.37 ERA through 19.2 IP. I expect his H/9 to increase, but his other numbers should also rebound, leaving him a solid though unglamorous reliever.