Twins pitcher Pablo López is recovering on schedule from strained muscle

Twins injured starter Pablo López is “progressing nicely” on his way back from a strained muscle that affects shoulder and arm movement.

López was examined by a doctor Sunday and had an MRI Monday. Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said Lopez’s inflammation and swelling are “totally gone.”

López hasn’t thrown since the Twins put him on the 60-day injured list June 5 because of what the team called a “Grade 2 right teres major strain.”

“It’s not all the way healed yet, so we’re not ready to start throwing yet,” Paparesta said. “We need to do the best thing we can for him for the long term and not just worry about the short term. We need to strengthen him up and make sure his range of motion gets back to where we want it to be.”

Paparesta said López has been doing towel drills and will start throwing next week. He’ll begin a plyometrics routine based on his symptoms.

“The MRI was encouraging, and we were happy with what we saw,” Paparesta said. “It’s kind of exactly where we thought we’d be at 26 days post-injury, which is where he was. He’s moving in the right direction.”

The Twins celebrated the anniversary of the nation’s independence by wearing powder-blue caps Friday with the American flag serving as the background of the intertwined TC on the front.

Baldelli said he hasn’t had a traditional Fourth of July since he played rookie-league ball.

“Whether you’re a player or coach, we never go to the parade, the barbecue and even go to the baseball game because we’re already at the baseball game,” he said.

The Twins threw a holiday barbecue with a rocking live band and grilled meat on the Target Field plaza in the 90-degree heat.

Free-agent signee and MLB veteran Harrison Bader on Friday started for the 47th time in left field, where he has impressed his manager with defensive play that included a throw to the plate Wednesday that cut down the potential tying run in a 2-1 victory over the Marlins.

Bader added some offense Friday against Tampa Bay, hitting his eighth homer of the season 412 feet into the left field second deck for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“What Bader has been doing for us in left, that’s a big ol’ star,” Baldelli said. “You’re not going to miss that, whether you’re a casual fan or you’re watching close. He’s playing left field at about as high a level, an elite level, as you could ask for. He’s saving runs on a daily basis.”

Baldelli said he liked what he saw in his team’s defense and pitching, but not in the players’ silent bats on the six-game road trip to Detroit and Miami.

Twins starter Bailey Ober said Friday he’s throwing lightly and is hopeful he’ll be back on the mound sometime next week.

He was placed Wednesday on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 29 because of a left hip impingement he first noticed on a pickoff play, one of his last plays in spring training.

“It’s been better from a pain standpoint the last few weeks, but it just got to a point where I wasn’t comfortable [with] how I was throwing,” Ober said. “I was protecting it, and so maybe that’s why I was feeling better. Now it’s getting to the point where I can move appropriately and not necessarily favor. Hopefully, I get into a better transition with my hips so I can get back to throwing how I normally throw.”

The Twins held a moment of silence before the game for former outfielder Hosken Powell, who played for them from 1978-81. Powell was 70 when he died June 27 in Pensacola, Fla.