Justin Topa’s First Rehab Outing Shows Progress Twins Are Looking For

[Theodore Tollefson]

Justin Topa made his first rehab appearance in St. Paul on Thursday night. Hear what he shared with Twins Daily's Theo Tollefson after the game on where he's at with his pitch command and health.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

St. Paul – Another pitcher is inching closer to his return to the Twins bullpen and make his debut with the team. Veteran reliever Justin Topa suffered with tendinitis in his left knee in spring training. The Twins placed him on the injured list five days before the season began. 

Twins fans saw the newly-acquired reliever from the Mariners up close for the first time since spring training on Thursday night as he began his rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints. Last season, Topa threw 69 innings over a career-high 75 games and posted a 2.61 ERA, 1.14 WHIP,  21.9% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate. 

Topa’s breakout season in 2023 followed major surgeries throughout his career having not just one, but two Tommy John surgeries in Independent and Minor League Baseball. The knee injury was a first for Topa, and he was happy it wasn’t a long-term setback. 

“It felt good to just get back into the swing of things and go through a full regular game day again,” Topa said about his game day routine Thursday. “It felt like the shapes of everything were there, making pitches where I needed to make pitches, and I’m just happy with how it went today.”

Topa pitched only one inning on Thursday night. The first batter he faced reached on a fielding error by Diego A. Castillo. Topa went on to strike out the side and get through the inning on 15 pitches. 

Velocity wasn’t a major concern for Topa on Thursday as he returned to the mound. His sinking fastball averaged out at 95 MPH last season with Seattle, but he didn’t have a pitch top out over 92.6 MPH.

“I’m very adrenaline-based I feel like at times, so I just got to get going again, get the body moving, and I feel like once we continue to throw in games and build up in that aspect, it’ll be back,” said Topa. 

Saints manager Toby Gardenhire was impressed with the results Topa had on the mound Thursday night leaving him excited for what’s to come next time he’s out there for St. Paul.

“He was great,” said Gardenhire. “He looked great, he had an inning tonight, he went out there, threw his inning and he looked awesome. His stuff is sharp and that’s the first time I’ve seen him throw so that’ll be a good addition once we can get him back to the big leagues.”

The knee injury not only set back Topa on the mound but also his time in the Twins and Saints clubhouse coming out of spring training. Nonetheless, he said he’s still adjusting well with his new teammates throughout the organization.

“It was obviously tough timing with the whole thing, getting hurt toward the end of camp. But everybody’s been awesome. Getting to know everybody rehabbing over at Target Field for the past couple of weeks around those guys and then coming down here and seeing familiar faces that were in camp. It’s been awesome to blend with that and get to know how the organization runs,” said Topa. 

Thursday’s rehab outing was rejuvenating for Topa as he familiarized himself with his game[day routine once more. He noted the game day routine he had in a full season for the first time and was keen to his successful season with the Mariners in 2023. 

“Those are like the small things when you’re coming back from injury that can impact a lot of things, but just to get back into it has been awesome,” said Topa. 

Topa will have another rehab outing with the Saints this weekend as they finish out their series with the Rochester Red Wings. He’s expected to have a pitch count limit of up to 25 this go around, but no matter the results, Topa is thrilled to be on the mound again. 

“All injuries are bad injuries, but thankfully it wasn’t an arm injury again this year. So in that aspect,, it’s tough but being able to bounce back relatively quick and not miss too much time early on and hopefully just be good the rest of the way.”

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[LambchoP]

Who will we send down when Topa and Duran are activated? Bowman for sure, but then who? Whoever has options? I also think Alcala should be up with the Twins...

[USAFChief]

He topped out at 93 but velo "wasn't a concern?"

 

 

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

Guys coming off of an oblique injury generally aren't totally maxing out, and for good reason.

Look no further than Duran topping out at 99 so far. 

[USAFChief]

42 minutes ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

Guys coming off of an oblique injury generally aren't totally maxing out, and for good reason.

Look no further than Duran topping out at 99 so far. 

Topa is coming off a knee issue.

 

[USNMCPO]

31 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Topa is coming off a knee issue.

 

There you go with that logic thing again 😎

[ashbury]

8 minutes ago, USNMCPO said:

There you go with that logic thing again 😎

Chief also likes to mix facts into the discussion, where warranted.

[USAFChief]

9 minutes ago, USNMCPO said:

There you go with that logic thing again 😎

It's a curse, Master Chief.

[joefish]

Is he a starter or bullpen arm?

[USAFChief]

1 minute ago, joefish said:

Is he a starter or bullpen arm?

Yes.

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, joefish said:

Is he a starter or bullpen arm?

He has 92 appearances in the majors, 0 starts.  Who can guess as to the front office's intentions when they acquired him, though.  😀

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

23 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Topa is coming off a knee issue.

 

Not sure what I was smoking yesterday.... 

Either way it's his first outing of a rehab, nothing to lose sleep over. 

[Linus]

6 hours ago, joefish said:

Is he a starter or bullpen arm?

No

[joefish]

33 minutes ago, Linus said:

No

Then I hope he can hit.

[ashbury]

11 minutes ago, joefish said:

Then I hope he can hit.

“Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” – Benjamin Franklin