Harrison Bader briefly sidelined from Twins’ lineup after injury from broken bat

TAMPA, FLA. – When Harrison Bader swung at a first-pitch slider in the 10th inning Sunday, it cost him a bat that broke on the swing, and a chance to start in the next two games.

The Twins planned for Bader to be in Monday’s lineup, but a finger injury on his right hand stemming from the broken bat kept him out of the game. He remained out of the lineup Tuesday night before entering as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning.

“When I let go of the bat, for whatever reason, the bat broke on my ring finger,” Bader said. “It just zinged it a little bit and blew everything up a little bit. I’m trying to swing through it, but it just gets to a point where you’re just not effective, obviously, in a major league game. I’m just trying to work toward getting back there as soon as I can.”

Bader, who is batting .276 with five homers and 21 RBI in 46 games, underwent a medical imaging that showed a lot of inflammation, but not a fracture. With Byron Buxton on the seven-day concussion injured list and Bader out, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. has been the Twins’ primary center fielder. Willi Castro played his first inning in center Monday when Keirsey was taken out for a pinch hitter.

Was it the first time Bader injured himself from a broken bat?

“I’ve gotten zinged before, but not that bad,” Bader said. “I don’t know. It’s funky.”

The Twins took measures to combat the Florida heat and humidity this week for their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. They took batting practice in T-shirts and shorts Monday, then treated Tuesday as more of a “show-and-go” with very few on-field pregame activities.

The 90-degree temperatures didn’t stop Chris Paddack from showing up in his typical Texas ensemble, complete with cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and appropriate neck wear.

“I’m from Texas, man,” Paddack said, smiling. “I’m used to it.”

That doesn’t mean Paddack didn’t take precautions. He woke up earlier than usual to drink water, which he said helped him stay on top of his hydration. Then he walked around outside to “sweat a little bit, feel the humidity.”

During Monday’s game, Paddack went through three jerseys, three different hats and at least two undershirts. Head trainer Nick Paparesta gave him cold towels to wear between innings, too.

“It was humid,” Paddack said after he yielded two runs and five hits in 5⅓ innings. “It was hard for me to get some grip on the curveball, my spin pitches.”

With a runner on second base and two outs in the eighth inning Monday, Twins shortstop Carlos Correa kept telling himself if he had to take a few steps to his left, he would throw the ball to third base instead of first.

Rays leadoff hitter Chandler Simpson, one of the fastest players in the majors, hit a slow ground ball up the middle. Correa fielded it and fired a throw that caught Christopher Morel off guard. He had rounded the base by a few steps.

It turned into an inning-ending out, although it was a hidden highlight after the Twins gave up four runs earlier in the inning in a 7-2 loss.

“It’s just a next-level type baseball play,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You have to be multiple steps ahead and thinking about a lot of different things.

“For a lot of people that may be watching the game, it’s a nice play. It’s more than a nice play. It’s a play that only a couple of people in the world make.”

When Baldelli spoke to Correa about the play after the game, Correa brought up four-time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons as a shortstop who made those types of plays.

“I was thinking about that every pitch of that at-bat,” Correa said. “I was thinking, ‘If [Simpson] moves me to my left, I’ll go straight to third because I’m not going to have a chance to get him out at first.’”

* Royce Lewis, hitless in his last 20 at-bats, sat out Tuesday. “We’re going to be rotating our guys in and out of the lineup right now, giving a whole bunch of them a day here and there,” Baldelli said.

* Matt Wallner hit a homer and drew a walk as he continued his Class AAA rehab assignment during the St. Paul Saints’ 7-5 road loss to Omaha. Jose Miranda added three hits and two RBI.