Something seemed to click for Twins right-hander Chris Paddack in his Grapefruit League start against the Red Sox on March 20. And not in the "there's a clicking sensation in my arm" kind of way. The Twins have had enough of that elsewhere.
Something clicked for Paddack the figurative, but also very real, "I've got it back," kind of way. The ol' Sheriff, feeling brand new.
Paddack's performance against the Red Sox, in which he struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings and reached 97 mph on his fastball, was called by manager Rocco Baldelli, "The best I've ever seen him pitch."
Paddack said he didn't want to bluster or overstate anything, but definitely he caught the same drift.
"This is very bold of me to say, just because I have a long season ahead of me," Paddack told Puckett's Pond. "My only goal is to stay healthy, right? But mentally and physically, the last three outings here in spring has been the best that I've felt."
The Twins could use Paddack's best, right now, as they reel from on 0-3 start to the season, thanks to a sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It's the first time the Twins started at least 0-3 since 2016, when they started 0-9. If it happens to get that bad in the next week, expect some radical changes.
With the Cardinals of no help, the Twins turn next to the South Side of Chicago, a very friendly part of town to them in 2024. The Twins went 12-1 overall against the Sox a year ago, including 5-1 at Rate Field, as it is now called.
The White Sox won their first game of the season, slamming the Angels and coercing manager Ron Washington to use a position player on the mound. The Angels won the series by taking a pair of one-run games, but the White Sox appear just a little more formidable than they were in '24 when they set an AL record for most losses. Even before the opening series in St. Louis, manager Rocco Baldelli made it a point, when a reporter implied that easy wins against the Sox could be coming, he shut down the notion.
"I've learned to never underestimate anyone in this game," Baldelli said.
It might sound absurd to call the next Twins game "a must-win" with so many dates left in the season, but they could really use some good news coming in the form of a real-live team victory. Paddack might have the temerity to help get them there, especially if anyone is underestimating him.
Paddack says he is starting to feel like the guy who, in 2019, was dynamite as a 23-year-old rookie for the San Diego Padres, posting a 3.33 ERA with 153 strikeouts and 107 hits allowed in 140 2/3 innings.
In the five years since, Paddack has a 4.90 ERA in 56 starts combined, though his supporting stats have been better than that amid all of the missed turns, mostly due to Tommy John surgery in 2022 and the subsequent recovery.
The road has been bumpy, but Paddack has felt a shift into a higher gear this March as surgery gets farther and farther in the past. He's modified his release point, to add some deception — which should make the difference between his four-seam fastball and his changeup hard to parse again.
And his confidence hasn't been this high in a long time.
"I'm approaching the mound with that attitude," Paddack said. "I found some things that clicked this offseason, of getting back to being myself and talking to our staff here and just not letting this game beat me up.
"I know I'm capable of a lot of ace-type traits, and I want to get back to that and believe in that. Believe in myself."
Pitch with great stuff and confidence can take a pitcher a long way, especially at a time when it seems like pitchers are more vulnerable than ever.
"It's hard to see guys go down like flies throughout the season, especially pitchers," Paddack said. "There is no perfect formula. We try, we work our butts off to eat right, get sleep, do all the things that we can to fuel our body and prevent injuries, but the wear and tear over of course of a full season, on top of the travel, on top of, just, the mixed emotions that this game brings you, it's hard."
Paddack repeated that he doesn't want to get ahead of himself too far, and that his goal is just to stay healthy. If he does, if Paddack makes 30 starts, that means the other details have been falling into place along the way. The stuff he said about "ace-like traits," though. Sounds like it could be fun. How nice would it be for the Twins to have some of that?
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