As has been the case during every homestand this season, Minnesota Twins GM Jeremy Zoll met with reporters before Friday night’s impeccable 9-8 comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals to provide injury updates on 40-man players and top prospects.
Walker Jenkins was the biggest name he provided an update on. Minnesota’s top prospect began a rehab assignment with Low-A Fort Myers on Saturday. Jenkins has been out since May 3 after making a game-saving catch against CHS Field’s center field wall and suffering a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his left shoulder.
Jenkins was on a hot streak when he crashed into the wall, making a nice catch on May 3. He had been hitting .295/.419/.475 with five doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, 12 walks, and 12 strikeouts over his last 16 games before the injury.
It may not take as long for Jenkins to get hot again with the bat when he returns from the IL, given that the start of this season was his first time hitting in cold-weather environments after spring training. As long as he progresses well in his rehab games in Fort Myers over the weekend, Twins and St. Paul Saints fans could expect Jenkins back as early as the second half of their upcoming homestand.
Left-handed pitcher Kendry Rojas will also be joining Jenkins in Fort Myers for the next steps of his recovery plan. Rojas has been out since May 29, when the Twins scratched him from his start due to posterior left elbow soreness. Rojas will not be participating in a rehab assignment yet, but Zoll shared he will throw a live batting practice in Fort Myers before his next steps are determined.
Rojas has been effectively wild for the Twins in the majors this season, pitching to a 1.26 ERA in 14 ⅓ innings with 10 walks and 14 strikeouts over the first five outings of his career. While he is stretched out more in a pitch four innings/65 pitches every four days role this season, the Twins would welcome Rojas, given how they intend to manage Connor Prielipp going forward. The oft-injured Prielipp now has over 60 innings of work this season between Triple-A and the majors.
Mick Abel threw a light bullpen pre-game Saturday and is likely to make at least one more rehab start with St. Paul this week before the Twins potentially clear him to return to the major-league rotation.
Abel pitched well in his first rehab outing against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in Toledo. He threw three scoreless innings, allowed only two hits, and struck out five batters on 47 pitches. His fastball velo also topped out at 97.9 MPH and averaged 96.3 MPH in those three innings.
As long as Abel recovers well from his light bullpen on Saturday, the Twins expect him to pitch five innings in his next rehab outing. If he checks all boxes with positive results, his next start could potentially be back in the majors after missing nearly two months with right elbow inflammation.
Zoll also shared that fellow starter Bailey Ober played catch on back-to-back days, Thursday and Friday, following a 10-day shutdown due to right elbow inflammation. Ober’s recovery timeline is still expected to be a month. Still, given he’s throwing after 10 days and not 14 days of being shut down, it offers signs of encouragement for his recovery process. Ober is still in the early stages of his recovery process, so it shouldn’t be expected for him to see a rehab assignment anytime soon.
Lastly, Zoll provided updates on Ryan Jeffers and David Festa before Friday’s game. Jeffers started catching drills on Wednesday, three weeks after his left hamate bone surgery. Zoll clarified that there is no clear timeframe for Jeffers’ return. Still, his initial diagnosis for the broken hamate bone was a six- to eight-week recovery, which Jeffers suffered three weeks ago.
Festa is now throwing long toss, but is still at least 10 days out from throwing a bullpen session. He’s been out since spring training with right shoulder impingement and isn’t expected to return until sometime after the All-Star break.
