Oswaldo Arcia was Minnesota’s starting right fielder when he was shut down with a wrist injury during the first week of the season and now that he’s finally healthy six weeks later the Twins have decided to demote him to Triple-A.
It’s an odd move in part because Arcia spent most of last season in the majors and more than held his own, hitting .251 with 14 homers in 97 games for an above-average .734 OPS at age 22, and in part because with Josh Willingham also injured the Twins have been using light-hitting infielders like Eduardo Nunez and Eduardo Escobar in the outfield corners and are also giving lots of action to a seemingly washed-up Jason Kubel.
So instead of just sticking Arcia back in the lineup where he ended last season and began this season they’ll keep trotting out a patch-work outfield and force him to spend more time at Triple-A, where he’s hit .311 with a .978 OPS in 50 career games.