When it looked as if the Minnesota Twins' season could not get any worse, as they have won only 68 games, including today's game, it got worse. According to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, third baseman Trevor Plouffe will miss the remainder of the 2014 season after suffering a fractured left forearm during today's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Plouffe had exited the game, in the sixth inninf, after hitting his left forearm off of Diamondbacks' outfielder A.J. Pollock's knee. Fellow infielder Eduardo Nunez would come into the ballgame to replace Plouffe.
Even with the forearm injury, the Twins still fully expect Plouffe to be healthy and ready for Spring Training in March. Despite the good news, this injury spells a bitter end to a bright campaign for the 28-year-old third baseman. The first-round draft pick, 20th overall, back in 2004, was experiencing a solid season, which was giving Minnesota much hope that they had made the right choice with their first round selection back in the 2004 draft.
Back in 2013, after bouncing back from the Twins' Triple-A affiliate in Rochester and the team's major league ballclub constantly, Plouffe settled in to the starting lineup as he finally had garnered the Twins' starting third baseman job, after having one of his best offensive productions in his career in 2012, where he had slugged .455, accumulated a 106 OPS+ and had a .220 ISO. Also, 5.2% of his plate appearances in 2012 resulted in a home run, as he hit 24 of them.
During the 2014 campaign, Plouffe slashed .258/.326/.423 in 579 plate appearances. Plouffe also hit fourteen home runs, drove in eighty runs and hit forty doubles. He also produced a 3.5 fWAR and a .330 wOBA this season. After this season, the Twins will still control his rights, as he is entering his second year of arbitration this winter. He was a Super 2-type arbitration eligible candidate back during the offseason, where he recieved $2.35 million. Minnesota could very well buy out his final two years of arbitration by signing him to a multi-year extension this winter.