Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan addressed the media like he does before nearly every home game, and the subjects ranged from injury updates on a number of players to a draft update as well as a look at how a couple guys who started the season in the big leagues are performing down at Triple-A.

Here are the highlights:

• Danny Santana ran at 70 percent prior to Tuesday’s game. “He’s making pretty good progress,” Ryan said of Santana’s hamstring injury. Ryan added that Santana would still need to hit, throw and field and all those sorts of baseball activities before he could head out on a rehab assignment. He’s expected to start on those things in the near future.  
• Miguel Sano, who is also battling a hamstring injury, is still feeling better, but is still undergoing treatment, Ryan said. Ryan added that Sano is still in the healing process, but there are no further tests scheduled for him.
• Ryan confirmed Perkins threw a bullpen, and will again on Friday. “He threw well,” Ryan said. “We’ll see how that goes.” Ryan said he figured Perkins threw at about 80 percent, but was not certain exactly how many pitches the left-hander threw. Perkins told Cold Omaha earlier in the day that it was just under 40 — mostly fastballs with a few sliders mixed in.
• Ryan said Alex Meyer still isn’t doing anything at Triple-A Rochester. Ryan told reporters over the weekend that Meyer was getting a second opinion from his own doctor on his ailing shoulder, but for now there is no update.
• Ryan said the Twins draft contingent — most likely spearheaded by scouting director Deron Johnson among others — is at Target Field working on preparation for the MLB draft, which starts on Thursday. The Twins have pick No. 15 in the first round, as well as picks No. 56, 73, 74 and 93. Day one features rounds 1 through Lottery B round, with rounds 3-10 on Friday and 11-40 on Saturday.
• Ryan said that minor league pitcher Zach Tillery is slated to have arm surgery. He wasn’t immediately sure the specifics of the surgery, but that it was not Tommy John surgery. Tillery was a 13th round pick in 2014 who had struggled badly this year in his second taste with Cedar Rapids (Low-A): 8.10 ERA, 12-10 K/BB ratio and 2.20 WHIP.
• The Marlins have a reliever named Kyle Barraclough who has racked up strikeouts (40 in 21 innings), and was originally an unsigned draft pick of the Twins in the 40th round of the 2011 draft. In fact, of all the picks the Twins made that year, Barraclough is the only player to make the major leagues. Ryan said he suspected the Twins draft room keeps tabs on players the club has previously drafted, but he doesn’t necessarily. Local guys he’s more likely to keep close tabs on — like Logan Shore and Dalton Sawyer, a pair of draft-eligible players this year whom the Twins took in previous seasons — but he’s not likely to with guys who aren’t from near the area.
• Tommy Milone has gone down to Triple-A and put up some fantastic numbers — 2.08 ERA, 27-1 K/BB ratio in 34.2 innings — but Ryan downplayed (slightly) the notion that he was close to returning to the big leagues. “I think he’s behind the guys that are here,” Ryan said. “That’s why Gibson will get the nod. He’s doing well there, there’s no doubt. You look at those numbers and those aren’t by mistake. When the time comes we’re certainly going to look at him.” Ryan added that those are the kinds of guys that when sent down, the team tells them to put themselves to be in position to be the first guy called back.
• Ryan said catcher John Ryan Murphy was showing signs of coming out of his season-long slump. “He’s doing better,” Ryan said. “Last couple games he’s done better.” Ryan spoke a bit to spotty playing time for Murphy when he was with the big club, but didn’t say that was a primary reason — or even a particularly strong one — for why Murphy had struggled. Ultimately Ryan said the club still holds high hopes for him as a young player. Murphy is just 25, and is in fact younger than Twins prospect catcher Mitch Garver, who is at Double-A.

  

Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne covers the Minnesota Twins for Zone Coverage and is also the site's senior editor. He hosts the Midwest Swing podcast for the site as well. He and his wife Amanda live in the outer Twin Cities suburbs with their daughter, Harper.

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