Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey met with reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) today at the Twins’ spring camp, and provided several injury updates. The news is particularly good for Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco, as Falvey said both players are on track to be in the lineup on Opening Day.
“Relying on our medical folks on what they think are the best next steps…but they’re still telling us that [Opening Day is] in play barring anything changing. And both guys’ feedback has been positive,” Falvey said.
Buxton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in September, while Polanco didn’t play after August 27 last season due to knee inflammation. Polanco tried to return in September, but was shut down during a minor league rehab assignment when his left knee continued to feel sore. With an eye towards both these injuries, the Twins have been slowly easing Buxton and Polanco into spring activity, restricting both players to live batting practices and backfield workouts rather than any game action. It isn’t yet clear when either player might make their Spring Training debut, but it seems as though the club doesn’t feel Buxton or Polanco will need too many at-bats to get sharp.
A little over a week after suffering a high ankle sprain during a Grapefruit League game, Nick Gordon has started running and hitting, Falvey said. Naturally any kind of high ankle injury is a concern, but it would seem that Gordon might have landed on the low end of the “wide range of outcomes” manager Rocco Baldelli mentioned last week when discussing possible recovery timelines. The Twins will be cautious with Gordon but, if all continues to go well, he might also be on target for Opening Day without the need for a season-opening stint on the injured list.
Jose Miranda is also making good progress in his recovery from a sore shoulder, as Falvey said the infielder has started a throwing program. While Miranda’s shoulder forced him to withdraw from Puerto Rico’s World Baseball Classic team, it hasn’t kept him entirely off the field in Spring Training, as Miranda has still been able to play as a designated hitter. With just under three weeks to go until Opening Day, Miranda seems on pace to recover in time to take his planned role as Minnesota’s regular third baseman.
Amidst all these positive updates, however, the news isn’t quite as good for Alex Kirilloff. In comparison to Buxton and Polanco, Kirilloff is “probably the one that’s a little bit behind our schedule,” Falvey said, noting that “it’s kind of a tolerance thing on a daily basis for him” as Kirilloff works his way back from wrist surgery.
Kiriloff made his MLB debut in 2021, and the former top prospect has thus far hit .251/.295/.398 over 387 Major League plate appearances over the last two seasons. Unfortunately for Kirilloff, each of those seasons was prematurely ended by surgeries on his wrist. As The Athletic’s Dan Hayes wrote last month, Kirilloff’s surgery last August was particularly “drastic,” with the intention of correcting Kirilloff’s wrist problem once and for all. As such, the Twins are taking their time with Kirilloff, holding him out of games and even out of live-pitching sessions, if Kiriloff feels he is only up to work in the batting cages.
With all of these position-player health issues facing the Twins, the pitching staff has been a comparatively lesser concern, as Minnesota’s rotation candidates have by and large looked both healthy and in good form during their spring outings. It has gotten to the point that Falvey said the team is weighing the possibility of a six-man rotation.
“That wasn’t our plan as we entered camp,” Falvey said. “It still, I wouldn’t say, is our plan, but there’s at least a conversation we’ve been having internally about how that could work and what it would mean for the bullpen, how would we navigate that. Some of it will be health-dependent, but we’re open to the conversation maybe more now than I was a month ago.”
A six-man rotation would create a spot for Bailey Ober to get some MLB starts, as Ober would join the projected rotation of Pablo Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Kenta Maeda, Joe Ryan, and Sonny Gray. The Twins aren’t likely to finalize any rotation plans until after Lopez returns from the WBC, but a six-man rotation would give more rest to Mahle and Maeda as they return from injuries. It would also help Minnesota navigate a pretty busy early schedule, as the club has only two off-days in the month of April.
It’s Pablo Lopez, not Jorge
Jorge is the Closer which is probably where the confusion came from
I have to wonder if the Twins have considered (even just a little) bringing Sano back
He’s slow, injury prone and might hit 20 homeruns if he bats .200. Better off starting the rookies.
It has to sting a bit for him that the response to his free-agency is crickets chirping
You’d think the Sox would sign him just out of historic luck. I’d roll the dice in hopes of embarrassing MN again.
Pedro Martinez advocated for Dan Duquette to sign David Ortiz (yet another thing the Sox and their fans should be grateful to Pedro for). I don’t know if there is anyone on the team willing to stick his neck out for Sano
It’s too bad Sano cannot find the same peds Ortiz used
Or like Sheffield / Giambi. It goes both ways, buddy.
Sano has a 0% chance of returning. The Twins were absolutely fed up with him with 2 years left on his contract and the team representative became vocally critical of him by the end of the season.
The fact Sano hasn’t even found a MiLB contract after his poorly attended work out a month ago speaks volumes about how he’s seen around the league.
True. Even the NPB and KBO seem to have zero interest
The Twins were tired of trying to get thru to the bum. By all accounts he was virtually uncoachable and did not stick to the dietary restrictions they tried to put on him to get his weight under control. When he entered the Twins system he weighed 180 pounds. By the time he flunked out and got released he was right around 300 pounds.
In the 2019 / 2020 offseason he gained 80 pounds of FAT not muscle. And he never took any of the suggestions to heart from the coaches to alter his plate approach to help him better deal with offspeed stuff which he was an absolute sucker for. his batting average plummeted and the strikeouts skyrocketed from 2019 on.
He’s also a terrible defender anywhere in the diamond. They tried him at first and third and he was awful at both positions.
I don’t know as I’d be that harsh. Sano was 6’3″ and 190lbs when he was signed at age 16 in 2009. I believe he was listed at 195lbs when he started his MiLB career in 2010, though he started adding weight after that. Every year he was heavier, but he always claimed the Twins liked him bigger because it meant more power. Obviously not the case, but anyway.
Sano was a very good defender at 3B when he arrived which makes his defensive cratering all the more disappointing. It wasn’t just the excess weight, it was that he clearly didn’t care about defense.
He was tried in RF as well
Don’t count on Buxton for a full season. I don’t know a single guy more injury prone. Maybe Miguel Sano.
Garrett Cooper
I can’t believe Buxton has only played in more than 100 games once in 8 years. Has to be frustrating for Twins fans.
That’s the wonderment of him getting a big contract.
Twins need to keep Ober handy. I see three of the five starters tanking sooner than later.
Are they still paying Randy Dobnak?…
Dobnak has two years left on his deal. He’s done OK and could return.
And today, Aaron Sanchez gives up 8 hits in 2 innings.
Hasn’t he been out for 2 years with a hangnail or something like that? Lol
Ruptured ligaments in fingers. Usually happens in rock climbers.
He has also been very inconsistent when he plays. Lit up 2022 hitting on fire and everyone saying he was the best, but then ended up hitting .200 by season’s end.
Honestly, he should have been traded. Missed opportunity for the Twins.
He’s never been able to stay healthy for extended periods he’s just fragile.
It’s beginning to look like Kiriloff might turn out to be another oft injured,journeyman, Tyler Naquin-type.
Not terrible but well short of what he was billed as on the way up.
Kirilloff. 2 L
Whatever.
Doubtless no one would have known who I was talking about without your valuable contribution.
Maybe if he gets that OPS+ over 94; I will be more careful.
I know who Kirilloff is. No idea who you are. Maybe if you get that OPS+ over 0 I might hear your name and be more careful.
That’s just mean.
I think the Twins would be much better served using Ober in long relief. I don’t think he can stand up to a starter’s workload.
It’ll be interesting to watch how things sort themselves out this year as Falvey’s stacked the roster over-full at a number of positions again. Honestly, I”m the most excited to see Royce Lewis again, despite the huge concern on his durability at this point.