Injured Justin Topa, Chris Paddack could pitch for Twins in final six games of regular season

BOSTON – It’s still possible for the Twins to add a couple of experienced arms to their bullpen this season. Yeah, they’re cutting it kind of close.

Justin Topa, acquired from Seattle in January but out all season with a patella tear in his left knee, allowed a double but struck out two in a scoreless inning for the Class AAA Saints on Sunday. That follows an inning on Friday, his first game action in six weeks, in which he walked a batter, hit another and gave up a three-run homer.

Topa will be examined by Twins doctors when the team returns home on Tuesday, though since the Saints’ season ended Sunday, it remains unlikely that he will be activated to pitch in the majors this season.

Far more plausible, according to Twins sources, is that Chris Paddack shows that he is healthy again now that the forearm strain he felt just before the All-Star break has gone. Paddack will throw a session of live batting practice to injured right fielder Max Kepler on Monday afternoon at Target Field, and both will also be examined afterward to determine what the next step is.

Paddack missed almost all of last season after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in 2022 but returned for the final week of the regular season to pitch out of the bullpen. He then contributed 3⅔ innings of scoreless relief against the Astros in the playoffs.

Kepler has not played since Sept. 1 after being diagnosed with patellar tendinitis in his left knee.

The Twins, who left Minnesota last Sunday, were disappointed when the Red Sox rescheduled Saturday’s rainout as part of a split doubleheader, with roughly two hours between games, rather than a traditional doubleheader with no more than a 30-minute break in between.

But actually, the Red Sox had no choice.

Under terms of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement with the players association, doubleheaders at Boston’s Fenway Park and the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field, the two oldest parks in the major leagues, must be split doubleheaders.

“Scheduling a postponed game as part of a conventional doubleheader” at 112-year-old Fenway or 110-year-old Wrigley, reads Article V, Section C, Paragraph (1)(b) of the sport’s current basic agreement, “will not be considered a practical alternative.”

In general, the CBA gives players the right to approve or reject doubleheaders scheduled for rainouts except in certain situations. Split doubleheaders, which keep players at the park for several hours longer than a traditional doubleheader, are mostly unpopular among both players and fans, who must buy separate tickets for the two games.

But at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, the players don’t get to vote.

The clause has been in every basic agreement since 1996, and according to the team, the Red Sox have not played a traditional doubleheader at home since Aug. 30, 1978.

The Red Sox, who also traveled after the game to play in Toronto on Monday, did compromise by moving Sunday’s first game back an hour from its original 1:35 p.m. Eastern start time, which allowed them to start game 2 at 5:35 p.m., 90 minutes earlier than usual.

The Twins own the tiebreaker against all three teams they’re battling for wild-card spots this week. Twins manager Rocco Baldeli said he wasn’t specifically thinking about the potential importance of that advantage as their season series ended against the Royals, Tigers and Mariners, “but we were definitely aware of it.”

The Twins won seven of 13 games against Kansas City, despite losing the last four meetings. They were tied 6-6 with the Tigers before winning the finale in Detroit on July 28. And they won five of seven against the Mariners, taking three out of four at Target Field in May.

“It was just one of the many things that we weigh when we make decisions during games,” Baldelli said. “I’m not going to sit here and say two months ago, we were going to turn every valve and flick every switch to win the deciding game. But it’s something we’re always aware of.”

Caleb Boushley gave up three home runs in the fifth inning, including a three-run shot to Ji Hwan Bae, as the Saints lost 9-4 to Indianapolis at CHS Field to end the 2024 season at 70-79.