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BRADENTON, Fla. — Amid a flurry of disappointing injury news the past couple of days, the Twins actually saw a positive on the health front Monday when Justin Topa got back on the mound in a major league game for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Topa was slowed in camp by shoulder tightness, which cropped up during the Twins’ spring training game on March 5. After taking a day off, he started resuming activities, going about a week total, he estimated, between the time he felt the tightness and when he got back into a minor league game.
Monday marked another step forward. He threw one frame in the Twins’ 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park in Bradenton. It was an extended inning as Topa allowed a home run to Bryan Reynolds and committed a throwing error, allowing another batter to reach. After that, he struck out the final two batters. The shoulder, he said, was not on his mind.
“Now, it’s just getting things timed up again and feeling comfortable out there,” Topa said. “Today, I felt comfortable. I felt like I made some good pitches.”
Though he hit a little speedbump in the middle of camp, Topa said he felt he was right where he needed to be from a volume standpoint. The extended inning, he said, was actually helpful in that it gave him more opportunity to “hone things in.”
“You don’t always want long outings, especially as a reliever. But where we’re at right now with the buildup and volume standpoint, I think we’re in a good spot,” Topa said.
The righty, acquired last offseason as part of the trade that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle, missed almost all of last season due to knee and elbow issues. He finally returned at the end of last season, getting in three major league games. When he was healthy the year before that, he posted a 2.61 earned-run average in 69 innings, becoming a pillar of the Mariners’ bullpen.
“He does different things with his stuff than most of the guys that are out there,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think he’d be a really nice complement to our bullpen if we get him to where he needs to be, and I think he’s on his way there right now.”
Joe Ryan wasn’t about to go and air it out Monday, without some of the amenities the Twins have in Fort Myers at his disposal and after a trek to Bradenton that took more than an hour and a half. So the dip in velocity was of no concern to the starter who gave up three runs in his four innings.
“I was joking. I was like, ‘OK, for every hour I drive, I’ll take a mile an hour off,’ Ryan said. “That’s just kind of the reality of it.”
His next start will be the last of the spring for him, and it’s more likely to mimic a regular-season intensity than Monday’s did. But still, Ryan put in a full day’s work on some of the things he wanted to focus on.
“There’s a couple things we wanted to get in today that I haven’t gotten in, just making a note of, ‘OK, we should throw the cutter a little bit more. Throw some pitches in certain spots,'” Ryan said. “That’s always kind of fun, but it definitely takes an element of ‘Go compete,’ out of it.”
Bailey Ober is set to take the ball on Tuesday when the Twins host the Detroit Tigers at 12:05 p.m. CDT. … Matt Wallner hit his sixth home run of the spring on Monday, tying him for the major league lead. … The Twins will welcome fan favorite Nelson Cruz back to the ballpark for their home opener April 3. Cruz, who played for the Twins from 2019-21 before being traded for Ryan, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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Topa was slowed in camp by shoulder tightness, which cropped up during the Twins’ spring training game on March 5. After taking a day off, he started resuming activities, going about a week total, he estimated, between the time he felt the tightness and when he got back into a minor league game.
Monday marked another step forward. He threw one frame in the Twins’ 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park in Bradenton. It was an extended inning as Topa allowed a home run to Bryan Reynolds and committed a throwing error, allowing another batter to reach. After that, he struck out the final two batters. The shoulder, he said, was not on his mind.
“Now, it’s just getting things timed up again and feeling comfortable out there,” Topa said. “Today, I felt comfortable. I felt like I made some good pitches.”
Though he hit a little speedbump in the middle of camp, Topa said he felt he was right where he needed to be from a volume standpoint. The extended inning, he said, was actually helpful in that it gave him more opportunity to “hone things in.”
“You don’t always want long outings, especially as a reliever. But where we’re at right now with the buildup and volume standpoint, I think we’re in a good spot,” Topa said.
The righty, acquired last offseason as part of the trade that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle, missed almost all of last season due to knee and elbow issues. He finally returned at the end of last season, getting in three major league games. When he was healthy the year before that, he posted a 2.61 earned-run average in 69 innings, becoming a pillar of the Mariners’ bullpen.
“He does different things with his stuff than most of the guys that are out there,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think he’d be a really nice complement to our bullpen if we get him to where he needs to be, and I think he’s on his way there right now.”
Ryan’s tune up
Joe Ryan wasn’t about to go and air it out Monday, without some of the amenities the Twins have in Fort Myers at his disposal and after a trek to Bradenton that took more than an hour and a half. So the dip in velocity was of no concern to the starter who gave up three runs in his four innings.
“I was joking. I was like, ‘OK, for every hour I drive, I’ll take a mile an hour off,’ Ryan said. “That’s just kind of the reality of it.”
His next start will be the last of the spring for him, and it’s more likely to mimic a regular-season intensity than Monday’s did. But still, Ryan put in a full day’s work on some of the things he wanted to focus on.
“There’s a couple things we wanted to get in today that I haven’t gotten in, just making a note of, ‘OK, we should throw the cutter a little bit more. Throw some pitches in certain spots,'” Ryan said. “That’s always kind of fun, but it definitely takes an element of ‘Go compete,’ out of it.”
Briefly
Bailey Ober is set to take the ball on Tuesday when the Twins host the Detroit Tigers at 12:05 p.m. CDT. … Matt Wallner hit his sixth home run of the spring on Monday, tying him for the major league lead. … The Twins will welcome fan favorite Nelson Cruz back to the ballpark for their home opener April 3. Cruz, who played for the Twins from 2019-21 before being traded for Ryan, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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