The twins are confident that Anthony Desclafani will be ready for opening day, despite his brief shutdown.
Despite his brief period of restraint, which he concluded on Friday with a bullpen session, the Minnesota Twins are cautiously optimistic about Anthony DeSclafani’s chances on Opening Day.
After playing in his second live batting practice session, DeSclafani—who was sidelined with a flexor forearm strain last season—experienced right elbow soreness, which forced a brief shutdown of his activities, according to team trainer Nick Paparesta. But Paparesta said the soreness wasn’t unexpected as DeSclafani began to ramp up his throwing.
The way DeSclafani has recently physically responded since his throwing was halted and the message he’s communicating to the Twins—along with the time left in camp—have Paparesta hopeful the veteran can be ready to pitch when the season begins later this month.
“We have reached week four,” stated Paparesta. “I believe there is still a lot of time to prepare him. That is how he is doing—getting better every day and returning. “Does it feel the same as yesterday?” is the most important question. “Yes?” “Great.” He made the best throw he could at the ball as we completed 120 feet. Fantastic. Let us proceed to the subsequent phase.
On January 29, the Twins made the pitcher’s second offseason trade of the season when they acquired DeSclafani and $8 million in cash from the Seattle Mariners. He was originally traded to Seattle on January 5 in exchange for Robbie Ray. In the hopes that DeSclafani can return to his 2021 form—when he went 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 167 2/3 innings—they are only giving him $4 million.
Before missing the entire season due to a flexor strain, DeSclafani played in just 19 games for the Giants, 18 of which were starts. Following a PRP injection, DeSclafani reported to Twins camp last month, saying he felt well and had had a typical offseason. In recent outings, DeSclafani’s velocity had reached 94–95 mph.
Paparesta believes the increase in intensity caused the soreness.
According to Paparesta, “you cannot mimic someone’s intent when they enter the box.” “We are attempting to find the time to step back, assess, and give him a little more recovery time. It is more about getting him up to speed at that full effort level, and then you are getting a little bit more soreness from that.”
If DeSclafani stays healthy, the Twins should have plenty of time to get him ready, depending on where they want to put him in the rotation. The team has days off on March 29, April 1, and April 5 during opening week, despite the fact that the regular season begins in Kansas City on March 28.
If they had to bypass his turn the first time around, DeSclafani would have a minimum of five weeks to prepare. Rocco Baldelli, the Twins manager, advised the team to approach DeSclafani cautiously and with an eye toward the future.
Baldelli told reporters in Fort Myers, Florida, “We are at the beginning stages of that right now.” “There are various types of benchmarks and phases in his ramp-up that he must be able to meet. But at this point, there is no reason to believe he should not be able to do that. We will take our time and do things the right way, but I am still hopeful he will pitch for us early in the season. After making sure he is taken care of, we will intensify his. It is obvious that there will not be a very aggressive ramp-up. It is going to be a ramp-up, and we understand that in order to tackle this project properly and for the long term, rather than just trying to get him back out on the mound, we need to take our time every step of the way. However, I remain optimistic.”
Should DeSclafani’s health continue to impede him, the Twins have a number of young pitchers who are throwing well in camp.
Louie Varland is vying for a spot in the rotation that does not exist yet, so he might be added if DeSclafani is injured. Varland, who has already made 15 career starts, believes that he can get better against right-handed hitters by honing the two-seam fastball he started throwing at Triple A last season. In two scoreless innings, Varland struck out four batters in the Boston Red Sox’s exhibition game on Friday.
Simeon Woods Richardson, a young pitcher who spent a month in velocity camp in January, has also grown on the team since his arrival at camp. Woods Richardson has reached 95 mph early in camp, a speed he has previously struggled to hit consistently. From July on, he had a 3.10 ERA in 66 2/3 innings with 56 strikeouts at Triple A.
Prospect Matt Canterino produced nine swings and misses in his first-ever outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery, which gave the team additional positive signs. July 30, 2022, was Canterino’s last game for the Twins.
However, there is still hope that DeSclafani will turn his life around for the better. After playing long toss four of the previous five days, DeSclafani responded well enough to move on to a bullpen session on Friday, according to Paparesta.
“We know what we are dealing with, and we have a player with experience who knows how his body feels right now,” Baldelli remarked. “He is aware of what he will require, but undoubtedly, our medical team will also play a significant role.”
On Friday, reliever Caleb Thielbar concluded a period of inactivity with a bullpen session, according to Paparesta. The left-handed reliever’s left hamstring strain kept him out of the game.
Thielbar’s next live batting practice pitch is probably still a week away. Paparesta expressed confidence that Thielbar will be ready for the regular season, citing the fact that relief pitchers do not require the same build-up as starters.
“We anticipate that he will have a fairly typical build-up for the remainder of spring training, and he ought to be good come Opening Day,” stated Paparesta.
