Morneau becoming RBI machine: Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer as the Twins routed the Chicago White Sox 9-2 on Tuesday night. Gavin Floyd intentionally walked Joe Mauer with two outs to load the bases for Josh Willingham, who laced a 3-1 pitch under shortstop Alexei Ramirez's glove to drive in two runs. Morneau pulled the next pitch over the right field wall to put Minnesota up 9-1. "Morneau had a big night," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I know his home run was big, but I thought leading off the second inning with that walk after getting behind in the count was huge. It led to four runs." Morneau finished 1 for 3 with one walk and two runs. (Updated 05/23/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/25/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Morneau seems to be in his comfort zone again since returning from a stint on the DL. He's playing first regularly and has homered twice in his first six games back. He also has nine RBI in that six-game span. Finally, Morneau appears to be healthy and producing like his former MVP self. Now, he just has to avoid another health setback and continue putting up big numbers. If Morneau stays hot the rest of Fantasy Week 8 (May 21-27), then Fantasy owners might consider activating him for Fantasy Week 9 (May 28-June 3). (Updated 05/23/2012).
05/06/2012 21:52 Weekend Buzz: Star players getting injured in alarming numbers
Mariano Rivera. Pablo Sandoval. Evan Longoria. And those are among the All-Stars who suffered injuries this week alone. Scott Miller says we're only a month into the season, and it seems like every team has an injured star.
05/06/2012 17:17 Hit Parade for Week 6
Plenty of pitching matchups to take advantage of as we look ahead to Fantasy Week 6. Our Scott White helps you make sense of some platoons and maximizes your lineup's potential in his Hit Parade.
05/05/2012 19:23 Twins (finally) place Justin Morneau on DL
Despite earlier hopes that a roster move would not be necessary, the Twins have placed Justin Morneau and his ailing wrist on the disabled list.
05/04/2012 13:40 Di Fino: The art of buying low
There's nothing new about the buy-low concept, but the way an owner goes about it is the key. Our Nando Di Fino shares a few of his current buy-low candidates and how he'd go about obtaining them in trade.
After he missed the entire second half of 2010 with a concussion, Justin Morneau's return to the diamond was one of the biggest Fantasy storylines entering 2011. Clearly, he was no sure bet to bounce back to his MVP form, but nobody could have expected him to have the season he did. He was a liability at the plate. He simply couldn't hit the ball with authority, which led to numbers that would have been embarrassing by Nick Punto standards. Morneau wouldn't be the first player to have his career altered by a significant concussion, as Ryan Church and Corey Koskie can attest, but considering where he was before the injury, the drop-off seemed a little much. Perhaps his slate of offseason surgeries paints a clearer picture. Wrist, knee, foot, neck -- he had everything repaired in 2011. Between the procedures and another (less severe) concussion late last season, he was a living voodoo doll. How could you expect him to perform under those circumstances? Morneau might never get back to being the player he was, but at age 30, he still has a chance to be productive in Fantasy. You stand to gain much more than you lose by selecting him with a late-round pick. (Updated 1/5/12)