On Thursday afternoon, following the demotions of Pedro Florimon and Chris Herrmann, Gardenhire had this to say when he was questioned about their replacements.
"Hicksie's supposedly fine, and if everything is clear and they run that test, he'll probably be one of the guys," Gardenhire said.
The other player, Gardenhire said, would be a "surprise."
Okay, so - let's take a look at the 40-man roster.
Eric Fryer - Now that Herrmann is officially listed as an outfielder, Fryer is the only other non-active roster catcher. He's not coming up. Well, I guess he could. Fryer would certainly qualify as a surprise.
Jorge Polanco - Well, he's tearing the cover off the ball in Fort Myers. The 20-year old middle infielder continues to impress, with a .307/.386/.425 line in his first 145 plate appearances in High-A ball. But he's not ready for the Majors.
Kennys Vargas - This is one I could see happening, as a first base/designated hitter option. Vargas continues to do what he needs to do to move, hitting .297/.383/.523 in 128 plate appearances for New Britain. He's also belted six homers and has, as you can see based off his on-base percentage, a good eye at the plate.
Max Kepler - Kepler has struggled in 29 games in Fort Myers. He won't be coming up.
Kenny Wilson - The Twins still need outfielders, but Wilson doesn't seem like a good option. He's really struggling in Double-A.
But...what if the Twins weren't considering calling up a position player? What if they want to make a move in the rotation? I don't think they'll go this way, but it's worth keeping Trevor May or Alex Meyer in the back of your mind. The rotation has largely been awful, and considering that Kevin Correia's salary is sunk money regardless of what they do - would they be better off paying him to not play, instead of paying him to put the team in a whole?
I'll leave you with that little brain worm. Have a good Friday everyone, and Stu will be up in a little over an hour.