Nick Kurtz's potential return this weekend is the one thing Oakland fans can look forward to — the first baseman has been cleared to begin a hitting progression after a thumb injury, and this series against the Twins is the earliest realistic landing spot. It won't fix the pitching staff, but a healthy middle-of-the-order bat would be a real lift for a team that's lost Brent Rooker for the season and is still shuffling around Zack Gelof and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer at third.
Minnesota's turnaround has been abrupt. After dropping three straight to open a stretch against Cleveland, the Twins reeled off back-to-back wins to close that series and arrive home with a little wind at their back. It's not a complete reversal — the Twins are still a game under .500 — but 8-5 in July is the kind of stretch that keeps a fringe wild-card hope alive, and Buxton playing like an All-Star again is a big reason why.
Oakland's trip through Arizona was about as bad as it gets — a 5-6 nail-biter followed by a 15-5 blowout loss that says everything about where the pitching depth currently stands. Add in the injury to Colby Thomas and the earlier scare with Kuroda-Grauer, and this is a roster that's been stress-tested for weeks. The Twins, by contrast, are getting healthier at the right time, with Caratini's knee the only fresh concern on their side.