The Minnesota Twins may be subtracting from its roster soon as the trade deadline nears and a postseason berth becomes increasingly more unlikely. However, two key players are expected to return soon, and both have impressed to begin their rehab assignments with Triple-A St. Paul.
Twins' Luke Keaschall and Bailey Ober impress to begin their rehab assignments
In his first appearance in a live game since June 28, Ober began his rehab assignment by pitching four scoreless innings for the Saints on Friday. On 50 pitches, Ober, who has been sidelined with a left hip impingement, struck out three batters and allowed four hits. His fastball velocity, which has been cause for concern throughout the season, averaged 90.4 mph and reached 91.6 mph.
Ober has a 5.28 ERA in 92 innings across 17 starts this season. After a disastrous first start of the season where he was suffering from an illness, Ober went on an 11-outing stretch where he posted a 2.43 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 59 ⅓ innings before experiencing a poor June. In June, Ober gave up 30 earned runs in five outings, surrendering 38 hits (14 home runs) and eight walks in 30 innings.
Keaschall, the Twins’ No. 3 prospect and MLB’s No. 44 per MLB Pipeline, also began a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Friday. He played in three games total last weekend, going 3-for-12 with three walks, two stolen bases and one RBI.
Keaschall suffered a fractured right forearm on April 25 after being hit by a pitch from Angels starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks. Before landing on the injured list, Keaschall slashed .368/.538/.526 in 26 plate appearances with five stolen bases for the Twins.
Minnesota promoted Keaschall to the big leagues on April 18 after placing Matt Wallner on the injured list. Keashcall only played in 14 Triple-A games this year before earning his promotion. Last year, he hit .303/.420/.483 with 15 homers in 103 games across Triple-A and Double-A before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August.
Twins set to play Game 2 of series against Los Angeles Dodgers
Game 2 of the series between Minnesota and Los Angeles is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. CT on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The probable starting pitchers are the Twins’ Simeon Woods Richardson and the Dodgers’ Yashinobu Yamamoto.