Twins Morneau Out 6 More Weeks

The Minnesota Twins will be without former MVP first baseman Justin Morneau for at least 6 more weeks.  However, the issue is not the slugger’s wrist that sent him to the disabled list a few weeks ago.  Instead Morneau is dealing with a neck injury that’s been bothering him for some time now.

The 30 year old will be undergoing surgery next Wednesday that will relieve a pinched nerve in his neck.  Twins trainer Rick McWane described the operation.

"“It’s a very noninvasive procedure that he’ll have to remove a herniated disk fragment from his neck, and he should be back playing full in six weeks,” McWane said."

Minnesota has noted that Morneau’s tried to put off the surgery as long as possible.  The slugger has received multiple kinds of treatments as well as cortisone shots to counter weakness in his left arm and fingers, but to no avail.  Morneau has now given in to the fact that surgery is his best bet to return to the player he knows he can be.

"“I think the thing that kind of made the decision was hearing that it could be permanent — the weakness in the arm and numbness in the fingers,” Morneau said. “So hopefully the results will be good, and I’ll be ready for August and September. And hopefully the boys keep playing well and I’m there for the pennant race instead of having to watch like I have for the last two years.”"

His neck was obviously slowing Morneau this season.  In the 55 games he played in this year, the 4 time All-Star has only been able to produce a line of .225/.281/.338.  His best month was May, and still that only ended with an OPS of .723.