Twins postgame: Thoughts on morale, Murphy and Buxton

Here are three thoughts following the Twins loss to the White Sox.

BOTTOMED OUT: The Twins have been frustrated over their poor start, but today was the first time I sensed that they were totally gutted by how their offense has been ineffective. Twins manager Paul Molitor said it was becoming hard to find the right words to describe what is happening. Trevor Plouffe tried to remember Yogi Berra's quote about
90 percent of the game is half mental. The Twins are mental right now, and they have to figure out how to treat Friday like it's a new day. ``It seems like one good day by one person would be enough with the type of pitching that we're getting," Molitor said. Well, Joe Mauer is the best thing going right now. Someone needs to join him.

THE MURPHY MOVE: I was told this morning that David Murphy would not be at Class AAA Rochester long, and that one of the starting outfielders - Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton or Miguel Sano could end up at Class AAA Rochester once Murphy gets his swing ready. It's rather surprising this early in the season - and with so many players in the lineup struggling. But the Twins seem ready to shake things up a little to turn things around. I think Sano is close to breaking through, so I'm wondering if Rosario or Buxton are the real ones on the hot seat.

BUXTON'S HAND: Buxton looked like he might be headed to the disabled list in the third inning when he was hit on the back of the left hand with a Matt Latos pitch. Trainers looked at Buxton's hand for a few moments, but he remained in the game and actually stole second base. After the inning was over, he was removed from the game to have X-Rays taken. They were negative, and Buxton is day-to-day. After wrist problems, a concussion and torn thumb ligaments delayed his development over the last two seasons, Buxton and the Twins didn't want to add a broken hand to the list. ``I got the injury bug the last two years so this is the last thing I wanted to happen," Buxton said, ``but it is all in baseball. He threw a fastball that got away from him and had late break to it." There are the times when Buxton looks overmatched. Then there are times in which he has a pretty good battle with a pitcher only to strike out. Offensively, he doesn't seem to be there yet.