St. Paul – There were rumors around the ballpark that Minnesota Twins reliever Justin Topa would return to St. Paul this weekend to resume his rehab assignment. While his return was a matter of when, not if, the timing of his return turned out to be unexpected.
Topa rejoined the team Friday night, and they added him to the roster minutes before the first pitch. The scorekeepers were baffled when he came out of the bullpen to pitch the sixth inning for St. Paul because nobody had relayed his addition to the roster to the press box before the game.
Saints manager Toby Gardenhire said after the game that it was his mistake – he hadn’t added Topa to the scorecard. However, the plan was always to use him in Friday night’s game.
“We knew he was going to come out there. He came up a couple of days,” said Gardenhire. “He threw the ball good, he just made the one mistake and got hit.”
It was Topa’s first outing since Aug. 7. the Twins recalled him from his outing three days later due to a drop in his velocity over a six-game stretch with St. Paul from late July to early August. The Twins landed Topa in the Jorge Polanco trade, but he has only thrown in 11 games for the Twins organization this season, all on rehab assignments.
“It felt like I hadn’t thrown in a game for two months,” said Topa. “It was good to get the adrenaline back and get that environment again. As much as you try to replicate the game environment, it’s never going to be the same when you’re doing live BPs and stuff like that.”
Topa wasn’t overly concerned with the outcome of his outing Friday night. He walked the lead-off hitter and hit the next batter. However, he also induced a flyout and strikeout, making it two on and two out when veteran outfielder Joshua Palacios came to bat. However, Topa’s first pitch to Palacios was a hanging slider down the middle that Palacios drove for a three-run homer, giving Indianapolis a 4-2 lead.
“For me, this whole process is just health,” said Topa. “I know that once I’m healthy and locked and loaded the results will follow, and that’s the game of baseball, you’re going to have good days, and you’re going to have bad days.”
“We just wanted to use his weapons effectively,” added Chris Williams, who caught Topa Friday night. “He has a really good sinker, really good cutter. We just threw the wrong pitch to Palacios right there, and I mean, [Topa] threw it over the plate, threw it in zone just like we want to do and he just clipped him. It sucks, but he did a lot of promising things today. He threw the cutter and sinker really well. The backwards sinker, it was great.”
Earlier in the season, Topa was relieved that his knee injury didn’t appear to keep him out as long as previous injuries had. However, the constant setbacks and only getting into games via rehab assignment have brought more disappointment for the 33-year-old than he initially anticipated.
“I was drafted back in 2013, and I think this is the most frustrating season from that standpoint that I’ve had,” said Topa. “I think that, like you said, it’s been all rehab games, which is unfortunate, but I think the silver lining is that I’m starting to feel pretty good and get rolling here.”
If all goes well in his next rehab outing, there’s a good possibility a healthy Topa can finally join the Twins bullpen for the first time this season. However, the Twins have limited time to use him. Minnesota only has six games remaining in the final week of the regular season.
But Topa’s presence could bring some needed alleviation to the Twins bullpen. Minnesota overworked its bullpen this weekend against the Boston Red Sox after throwing eight relievers in their 4-2 victory Friday night.
“Obviously, that’s my goal is to get back into big league games and get back in the swing of things like I said,” said Topa. “The way this season has gone, the ups and downs for me if that was the case, to get back into a couple games at the end. I wouldn’t say it’s worth it, but it checks the box, and it fills a lot of the frustration that’s been going on this year.”
Topa plans to address his offseason prep and plan differently to see what he can do better to keep him on the field much longer in 2025. But before then, he’s hopeful to get back to the big leagues for the first time since Sept. 30 and help Minnesota’s postseason push.
