CLEVELAND -- At last, the Twins have their full complement of sluggers assembled and healthy -- not that the hottest offense in baseball necessarily needed any more help.
Minnesota reinstated designated hitter Nelson Cruz from the 10-day injured list on Monday after he completed a two-game rehab assignment with Class A Advanced Fort Myers. Cruz started at designated hitter and hit third against the Indians on Tuesday, finally realizing the Twins' hopes of uniting Cruz and Miguel Sano in their deep lineup for the first time in 2019.
"This is the first time we've had basically our full position-player roster healthy at the same time," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Now it creates -- I will not call it a problem -- it just creates a different kind of situation where we have a lot of guys that could be playing basically every day that we're not going to be able to get in there every single day."
Cruz, 38, has been out of action since May 12, and he was placed on the IL five days later with a nagging left wrist strain that originally seemed mild enough to keep him off the injured list. Cruz said that he stopped feeling most of the pain while swinging in St. Petersburg during the Twins' series against the Rays last week, but he will continue receiving treatments.
Cruz went 2-for-7 in two rehab games with Fort Myers after beginning the season with nine doubles, seven homers, 22 RBIs and an .862 OPS across 35 games with the Twins.
Minnesota barely missed a beat in Cruz’s absence. The Twins lead the Majors with 109 homers and a .511 slugging percentage while racing out to MLB’s best record after two months, and the club’s .889 OPS from the DH spot ranks third in the American League.
"I don't think we can be more dangerous than we already are, but definitely healthy," Cruz said. "We're all excited. At one point, during Spring Training, we all thought about this. So hopefully everything works out the way we planned."
Minnesota optioned rookie infielder Luis Arraez to Triple-A Rochester to make room for Cruz on the club’s 25-man roster.
Twins announce 'First Drink On Us' ticket offering
Fans looking to attend four of the Twins' home games in June can take advantage of the newly announced "First Drink On Us" ticket special presented by Budweiser, as part of which $15 Ballpark Access tickets will come with $10 worth of loaded value that can be redeemed at any Target Field concession stand, bar or restaurant for any beverage or food item of their choice.
The tickets can be purchased while supplies last through 10 p.m. CT on Thursday by visiting twinsbaseball.com/firstdrink.
"The Minnesota Twins, with support from great partners like Budweiser, are thrilled to offer fans another affordable opportunity to access Target Field," Twins president and chief executive officer Dave St. Peter said. "Excitement for the 2019 Twins is building and we know our fans will be paramount to making Target Field a true home-field advantage as the ballclub pursues the American League Central title."
In May, the Twins sold out two rounds' worth of $5 tickets for select seats and standing-room tickets for home games throughout the month, contributing to back-to-back sellouts from May 25-26 against the White Sox, the club's first consecutive sellouts at Target Field since 2015.