Twins Injury Update: Brock Stewart and Justin Topa take first steps toward returning

Earlier this season the Minnesota Twins were absolutely eaten alive by the injury bug, with stars like Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa missing time.

For the most part the Twins have managed to stay healthy, sometimes even mirsacuously so. Correa avoided serious injury the other week after getting hit in the forearm by a pitch, and Byron Buxton has been one of the healthiest players on the roster.

Not everyone has escaped cleanly, though.

Two of the biggest loose ends still dangling from the team's earlier bout with the injury bug are Brock Stewart and Justin Topa. Minnesota has only gotten 13 apperances out of Stewart this year, and he was looking magnificent before hitting the IL. Topa, meanwhile, was the centerpiece of the Jorge Polanco trade but has yet to make his debut with the Twins after suffering an injury in Spring Training and then a setback not long after.

It might not be long before we see them return, though.

Twins get massive update on the potential return of Brock Stewart and Justin Topa

Star Tribune beat writer Bobby Nightengale was the bearer of good news -- or at least hopeful news.

While neither Topa nor Stewart are expected to return in the immediate future, they're both taking big steps toward getting back on track with rehab assignments soon.

Minnesota's bullpen began the season as perhaps the strongest part of the roster but has fallen on hard times as of late. Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran are standouts, but everything else has been far more shaky than anyone would like to see.

Getting Stewart back will be huge. When he went to the IL he owned a 0.68 ERA and 1.050 WHIP in 13.1 innings of work. It's a small sample size but it's on par with what he did for the Twins last season when he posted a 0.63 ERA in 27.3 innings.

Injuries have plagued him in back-to-back years, which isn't great, but he's shown enough that just the idea of getting him back in the mix alongside Jax relieves some stress. Topa is more of a wild card, but the Twins landed him with a purpose this winter and he still projects to be a key piece of the bullpen once he gets healthy.

Getting both of these guys back in the near future couldn't be better timed. The Twins need to address the bullpen woes and might not have to do so via the trade market if Stewart and Topa are back. There's still a bit of runway ahead of us before that happens, but it seems like everything is finally trending in the right direction.

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