Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins got some good news with one of their starting pitchers on Friday afternoon. Pablo López is one step closer to returning to the rotation before the end of the season.
López pitched a simulated, two-inning game before Friday’s game, facing off against teammates Edouard Julien, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Austin Martin. He threw approximately 35 to 40 pitches, but most importantly, he felt great coming off the mound and ready to check off another box on his path to return to game action.
“I always want to see if I’m hitting my spots, don’t want to walk anybody, which I didn’t,” López said regarding his outing. “Everything felt good with the delivery, the mechanics, the execution, the pounding the zone mentalities. I think today is a good day to check all those boxes.”
López has missed two and a half months of playing time due to a right teres major muscle strain, which occurred while he was throwing a pitch against the Athletics in Sacramento. He exited that start as he began to warm up for the sixth inning, having thrown 72 pitches. López could tell something didn’t feel right during his warm-up throws, and that’s when he called the trainers to check on him.
It’s already been a long two months missing out on game action, but the only thing that could stop him from going full throttle in this simulated game was the rain, which just started to fall as he finished throwing.
“I saw the grounds crew going out and pulling out the tarp,” said López. “I told Pete Maki, ‘We’re finishing this.’ Like, let’s pretend their guy had a four-pitch inning, then I’ll go back out there. But we were able to get it in.”
“He looked good,” said Julien, who got called out on a looking strikeout against López. “I mean, he’s very accurate. He dots the fastball down, he changes speeds very well, he’s got that sweeper, that curveball that’s pure, and he’s got those two changeups. He’s tough to plan for; he’s a very good pitcher.”
López’s shoulder was feeling its best in months, and he got his teammates out on all the pitches he threw, which was encouraging for the clubhouse and manager Rocco Baldelli. There are still no set plans for what the next steps are for López. However, for now, they’ll plan to rest him as though he’s taking a normal turn in the rotation.
“We have plans drawn out, but we’ll make sure everything looks good tomorrow when he comes in,” said Baldelli. “Put him through a normal post-outing day, which is a little different for every guy. Make sure everything goes smoothly, basically.”
López is confident everything will feel normal once he returns to the ballpark on Saturday. There were no signs of fatigue on the mound, and it was just a matter of resetting a routine on the mound that’s been absent for so long.
“Yeah, everything felt normal,” López said. “The only thing, and not even that, I was hesitant or anything. It’s just because the intensity was amplified today in the first inning, and I wanted to see how I’d respond in the second inning. It just feels like any spring training buildup.”
I think it’s a great sign,” said Baldelli. “I think he understands his presence in this clubhouse and in the organization and what it means to everyone here. Just showing everyone that he’s going to work his butt off, as he always does, to come back. Just reinforces everything we know about him.”
López is back in his regular starting routine. He’s taking time to do cardio and check in with Maki and Baldelli, as if it were a typical day after a start. Therefore, López will have an easier time waiting until his next start. He’ll throw by next Friday at the latest, but it remains to be seen if that will be with the Twins in another simulated game or on rehab assignment in Fort Myers or with the Saints.
“Initially, when I went down, I was hopeful that it would be closer to the eight than the 12 weeks,” said López, “but then we really got a hold of the information, and the programming and the scheduling. So I’m happy to be on the mound and happy that the build-up is aiming to come back and a decent amount of starts in.”
“He’s a guy that means a lot to everything we do,” said Baldelli, “and he has no interest in just comfortably rehabbing and then going home at the end of the season. He wants to pitch.”
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