Minnesota Twins’ Justin Morneau wants to play at the first base – MLB News
Justin Morneau has stated that he is happy to play as a designated hitter if the Twins' management wants him there but it is certainly not his preference.
With the spring training season starting in a few weeks, Morneau wants to focus only on his game play. The first baseman had an incredible 2008 season when he earned the American League Most Valuable player award. He will be hoping to give similar sort of
performances in 2012 as well to let the Twins recover from their 99-loss season.
"We have not talked about the DH with Morneau; we're talking about first base," Minnesota's GM Terry Ryan said. "I don't see how DH would be any less strenuous than first base for him myself. It will be the same thing for him; he'll have to slide, go from
first to third. Ultimately, he'll have to be a base runner and take at-bats."
However, it is worth mentioning here that Morneau hasn’t played a full season since 2008. The Twins will definitely be hoping that he will play the full season to have a real chance of making it to the World Series.
In 2010 and 2011, Morneau almost retired from Major League Baseball due to several health and injury problems. The injuries have raised a big question on whether he will be able to cope with the challenging responsibilities at first base position and there
are rumours he might be asked to move to DH position permanently.
But Morneau believes that he is healthy and fit enough to perform his duties efficiently. Dismissing the doubts, he explained that if his health was a concern then he wouldn’t have been playing at the FB position.
“If the reason for me to DH is health, then I probably shouldn't be playing in the first place. If there's that much risk of me playing first and sustaining another concussion, then I probably shouldn't be out there at all,” said Morneau.
The left handed striker wants to continue at first base position for as long as possible as that is where he has been the most successful over the years.
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