27 August 2023
When the Twins host Cleveland on Tuesday night at Target Field, the game will have important implications for the standings. It is, after all, one of six remaining games remaining this season between the top two teams in the American League Central.
But what will come before Tuesday night’s game will be nearly as important — this for the Twins’ hopes of making a deep run in the postseason.
In the hours before the 6:40 p.m. game, reliever Jorge Alcala, who has been sidelined since May with a forearm extensor strain, will throw live batting practice. Alex Kirilloff, out with a shoulder strain since late July, will hit off him, and Byron Buxton, rehabbing a hamstring strain, is expected to, as well.
How that goes will be important for all three, who are among a group of players that hope to return in September and play a role down the stretch run.
“These rehab players that we have are really good baseball players and we have an opportunity to make our roster even better by getting some of these guys back,” trainer Nick Paparesta said.
The Twins got Joe Ryan back from the injured list on Saturday. Willi Castro is currently on a rehab assignment with the Saints, though his return could be delayed by the birth of his second child, who is expected to arrive in the coming days.
Should everything go well with Kirilloff on Tuesday, Paparesta said they’d be looking to get him out on a rehab assignment this week.
Buxton, who will have a baserunning session on Monday, is “trending in the right direction of us getting closer and closer to getting him on a rehab assignment,” Paparesta said. That would include him playing center field for the first time this year. Because of a previous knee issue, Buxton has strictly served as a designated hitter this year.
“With Byron, it will be day-to-day,” Paparesta said.
Alcala, who will throw to those two, has already thrown a handful of bullpens. He’s expected to throw live this week — Paparesta said he’d likely throw live three times — before getting him out on a rehab assignment.
Fellow reliever Brock Stewart, out with a forearm injury, targeted Sept. 10 or around there for his return date. Paparesta said Stewart would go off the mound twice this week and they would continue to see how he responded as they increase his “intent and effort level.”
And down in Fort Myers, Florida, where Chris Paddack has been rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery all season, the starter threw live batting practice on Friday. Paparesta said he would have a call with Paddack’s surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, in the coming days to determine how they’ll progress with him.
Complicating factors somewhat is that the minor league season wraps up earlier than the major league season, with the lower levels ending earlier in September and Triple-A concluding on Sept. 24.
“I was telling my wife the other day, I’ve got plates spinning all over the place and I’m just trying to keep them all moving,” Paparesta said. “That’s kind of where we are at this stage in the game, but the end result is something that can potentially benefit this team greatly, so it’s something I put a lot of time into.”
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