While the Minnesota Twins managed to pull off a doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Guardians on Friday, there’s a gentle hum of anxiety hanging in the air.
Minnesota began the day by essentially turning the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan into an injury update. Joe Ryan is headed to the IL with a Grade 2 teres strain that could sideline him for months, Brock Stewart underwent season-ending shoulder surgery, Brooks Lee is heading to the IL with shoulder soreness, and Top 100 prospect Luke Keaschall needs Tommy John.
It was the definition of the team getting kicked while it was down, as the Twins were coming off a two-game losing streak in a series loss to the Cubs.
Despite this, Minnesota is just 1.5 games out of first place in the AL Central, but the house of cards the front office set up in lieu of making trade deadline improvements is continuing to fall down. If Twins fans hadn’t already been eaten up enough by the injury bug, a setback for Justin Topa has now been added to the pile.
Justin Topa getting pulled from his rehab stint is another nightmare scenario for Twins
Twins beat writer Do-Hyoung Park was the bearer of even more bad news, reporting that Justin Topa had been pulled off his rehab start in St. Paul. While nothing is official, this would seemingly indicate that his season is likely over if he’s still unable to get healthy.
“Seems that Justin Topa has been pulled off his rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, described as ‘having a set-back’,” Park reported. “ Falvey had noted some arm fatigue issues with Topa as he built up his arm (along with the knee) as he worked toward his first action of the season.”
The Twins didn’t announce a timeline for Topa to resume his rehab, which only further suggests his season might be over. With only a month and change left, it’s doubtful that he’ll be able to bounce back in time to make an impact in the postseason which threatens to make the Jorge Polanco trade a total bust for Minnesota.
Polanco was sent to Seattle over the winter in a deal that landed Topa as the centerpiece. The logic made sense — after getting over the fact that the team salary dumped its most valuable trade asset rather than flipping him to meaningfully improve the roster. Topa is a hard throwing reliever who had the chance to stand alongside Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart as absolute studs in Minnesota’s bullpen, but now Jax stands alone.
Stewart is out for the season and Topa’s chances of playing took a massive hit after this latest update. Anthony DeSclafani was also acquired in the Polanco trade and is also out for the season.
Beyond the fact that the Polanco trade turned out to truly be a salary dump, the Twins decision to not make any real additions at the deadline continues to sting. The bullpen has been shaky for most of the season, and it feels like a liability heading into October. Losing Topa for even longer is a huge blow, but it also highlights just how brittle the Twins’ chances are thanks to how anemic ownership decided to be with the payroll this year.
While the Twins are still in the postseason chase, and have a real shot at winning the AL Central, it’s no thanks to the powers that be who could have made this journey much smoother than it’s been.
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