Within a six-day span starting on June 28, the Saints lost utility man Will Holland to a fractured fibula, utility man Tony Kemp was released and starting shortstop Brooks Lee was called up to the Twins. All that on the heels of losing infielder Michael Helman to a left hamstring strain on June 17. In short, manager Toby Gardenhire has been woefully short of available players in recent games, with four losses in the past six games leading up to Thursday night’s game against the Gwinnett Stripers at CHS Field being the result of going short-handed.
“We went through a couple weeks where we had a healthy team — and we won,” Gardenhire said, referring to a recent 11-game winning streak. “But it didn’t last very long. We’re pretty shorthanded right now and we’re just trying to get through it.
” Reinforcements arrived on Thursday. Second baseman Payton Eeles, who was signed as a minor league free agent on May 7, was called up from High Class-A Cedar Rapids. Relief pitchers Matt Bowman and Diego Castillo also rejoined the team after signing minor-league contracts.
Gardenhire said a team needs at least 12 position players to play at the optimal level. The addition of Eeles gives the Saints 11. Five starting pitchers is ideal, but that would be considered a luxury for the Saints at this point.
“We’ve had four the last couple weeks and that cuts it pretty thin,” Gardenhire said. “So you have bullpen games. We’ve done a good job with them, because we have a go.