Before the season even started the Minnesota Twins were taking some L's. The team lost four relievers and a starter to various injuries ahead of Opening Day and have been trying to navigate things ever since.
Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar, and Justin Topa all landed on the IL during the last week of Spring Training, with Josh Staumont joining them when the Opening Day roster was set. Anthony DeSclafani's tenure with the Twins might have ended before it even began, as his season is over after needing elbow surgery.
The loss of DeSclafani was a tough blow but the damage done by the injury bug to Minnesota's bullpen was far worse. Losing four arms meant that guys like Cole Sands and Kody Funderburk needed to get called up ahead of schedule and begin the season on the 26-man roster.
Both of those guys, along with Jorge Alcacá, are more than capable arms to have in the bullpen but it wasn't the curveball anyone was expecting. The news didn't get much better when Derek Falvey stopped by the Bally Sports North booth during the home opener to give an off-air update on where things stand.
Derek Falvey gives a good news-bad news update on injured Twins pitchers
Cory Provus revealed that Falvey had given an update during a commercial break on the current status of the team's injured relievers. The bad news is that it sounds like Jhoan Duran is going to be out for 'the foreseeable future' -- which is actually horrible news.
On the flip side is that Caleb Thielbar is on his way back and could start a rehab assignment as soon as next week.
"Caleb Thielbar is right now is ahead of Justin Topa," Provus relayed. "Thielbar is here and the plan is for him to face some hitters here at Target Field Saturday or Sunday. If that goes well he'll go out for a rehab assignment next week.
There are a few things to parse through, but the Thielbar update is at least something positive. Not knowing when Duran will be back isn't ideal, but the Twins bullpen has seemingly been able to navigate things without him for the time being.
Getting Thielbar back will be a huge boost to a unit that is already one of the better parts of the roster. Heading into the home opener the Twins had the fourth-best bullpen in the league, with relievers combining for a 1.27 WRA and 0.89 WHIP through the first five games of the season. Minnesota's bullpen also ranks second in hits allowed, trailing only the Detroit Tigers.
All of this has been without three of the team's key arms, which seems to indicate things will only get better once they return. Griffin Jax has the only save of the season thus far and seems to be filling in for Duran, but Thielbar coming back will give the Twins another great arm to clamp down on in late innings situations.
The trick, of course, is to get enough offense generated to make Thielbar's return even more impactful, but the first step is actually getting him back into the mix. That thankfully sounds like it'll be sooner rather than later.