Cole De Vries stares intently at the signs from Joe Mauer. He was locked in today and nothing was going to keep him from earning his rightful spot in the rotation.
De Vries lets the pitch fly like he had done so many thousands of times before, but this time the result was like never before. A sickening snap reverberates from his elbow throughout the ballpark. And then, pain. Searing pain like he never felt before forces De Vries to let out a blood-curdling scream before collapsing in a heap in front of the pitching mound.
Manager Ron Gardenhire saunters out of the dugout while muttering under his breath something about "pitchers these days ... " Meanwhile, head trainer Dave Pruemer casually jogs to the fallen hurler. De Vries' arm is a mangled mess, with his forearm twisted grotesquely in the wrong direction and the elbow looking like the only thing holding it together is the skin.
"Does this hurt?" Pruemer asks as he touches De Vries' forearm. De Vries lets out another scream of agony.
"Hmmmm, I guess that's a little tender," Pruemer says. He stands up, takes off his hat and scratches his head.
Gardy walks up and asks, "Can he pitch?"
"I dunno," Pruemer says. "Maybe if I rub some dirt on it."
Pitching coach Rick Anderson joins the men at the mound and says, "I don't think we need to push it for a spring training game."
"Well, fine," says on obviously flustered Gardy. "But what am I going to tell those guys?" he says as he points to the press box.
"Tell them it's a minor forearm strain. Removed for precautionary reasons," Pruemer says.
"OK," Gardy says.
As the trainers start to escort De Vries to the dugout, another loud, agonizing scream emanates from the bowels of the clubhouse.
"What was that?" Gardy asks.
"That's just Morneau complaining about his stiff back," says Pruemer while making air quotes.
Gardy rolls his eyes and mutters, "It never ends."
