HUGE UPDATE: Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli Issues Injury Update on Starter Chris Paddack As He Battle For Life with Dead Arm

Chris Paddack described the baseball he was throwing on Friday night as feeling like a dumbbell. Both the ball and his body felt heavy.

Paddack reported feeling dead arm following a start for the second time this season, which is not surprising given his workload over the last two seasons. Paddack had his second Tommy John surgery in May 2022 and came into this season having only tossed 27 1/3 major league innings in the previous two years.

“We need to remain on top of that. “I’ve had a tough four weeks,” Paddack said after giving up three runs on five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings against the Athletics. “As I entered June, my body felt slightly heavier. You can prepare all summer and spring training, but for a man who hasn’t thrown this many innings in three years due to injury, you can’t prepare enough.”

The Twins have done little to reduce his workload this season. He has had a couple of shorter starts, yet they have not skipped any of them.

And at this point, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli stated that they were not prepared to do anything different with Paddack. However, the management stated that they will analyze him over the following day or two and then determine his status.

“There’s nothing — and I use the word acute a lot — but there’s nothing acute going on right here,” Baldelli told reporters. “There are ups and downs in everyone’s season, especially his, coming back from what he’s coming back from.”

Baldelli stated that Paddack felt this way a few weeks ago and then experienced a jump in velocity following a dead-arm interval. Baldelli described Paddack’s spectacular ups and downs as “not unheard of or unexpected.”

However, the Twins will continue to monitor him closely to determine if there is anything they can do to help him.

“We knew that coming in that there was going to be a roller coaster of events, up, down with the body and the mind,” Paddack recalled. “But … “I have to prepare for my next start.”

Bullpen gets a day off.
Before Saturday’s game, Baldelli discussed how stressed his team’s bullpen was after a string of close games. Bailey Ober figured out one solution.

“Bullpens are going to get beat up sometimes just because of tight games,” Ober told the crowd. “As a starting pitcher, your duty is to sometimes go as deep as possible to give them a rest.

How about 9 innings?

Ober’s complete game against the Athletics on Saturday allowed a number of fatigued relievers to relax. The team will also be off on Monday.

“We were seeking for something like this. “You don’t normally get nine innings,” Baldelli explained. ” … Bailey Ober’s win and performance can last longer than today. We have a day off on Monday. You add this day and Monday together, and you get a nice little bullpen reset.”

Briefly
The Twins finish the series Sunday at Oakland Coliseum. It will be the Athletics’ final game at the ballpark, which has been their home since 1968. Starting next season, the A’s will play at 14,000-seat Sutter Health Park in Sacramento until 2027, while their new stadium in Las Vegas is built. … Pablo López will start that game, seeking to rebound after giving up five runs in four innings his previous time out.