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The Twins got a rare bit of good news Tuesday. Pablo López will be activated from the injured list after something very close to a minimum, 15-day stay.
In his postgame press conference Tuesday night, Rocco Baldelli announced that Chris Paddack will make the start Thursday, which means López is most likely to come back Friday night against Anaheim. This is welcome, not because David Festa has done a poor job filling in for him, but because López’s cerebral, veteran presence—not to mention his stellar stuff—will be a stabilizing force at the top of the rotation.
Through his first three starts, López has averaged more than five and one-third innings per start. He’s sporting a shiny 1.62 ERA, with his typically strong peripherals. You know his game: not walking many, getting a ton of chase, and coaxing a ton of grounders.
López left his last start, on April 8, after Carlos Correa noticed him grabbing the back of his leg. Correa called for the training staff, and moments later, López’s day was done. The next day, he hit the injured list for the first time since 2021. The early diagnosis was a mild hamstring strain, and at the time, the Twins were hopeful that his time on the shelf would be kept to the minimum allowed stint, 15 days.
These hopes seem poised to be (more or less) realized, as Lopez took around a week off, then made one rehab start with Triple-A Saint Paul. In his rehab start, Lopez threw 63 pitches, and completed 4 2/3 innings. He struck out four, didn’t walk anyone, and gave up one run on three hits.
On Tuesday, he threw a bullpen session, and the training staff felt that both went according to plan. Between the rehab start and the bullpen session, López got some workouts in with kettlebells and resistance bands in a ballpark hallway, as minor leaguers do, and didn’t feel any discomfort.
“I think he’s in a really good spot to return to the big leagues, not have to make another rehab start," Rocco Baldelli told reporters Tuesday. "All positive.”
López himself feels the same confidence.
“I’m feeling good, but also I got to the point where I’m still working … on sequences, hitting my spots and seeing what the training staff tells me, but everything’s moving well, feeling natural, feeling normal,” he said.
There was still one final test that López needed to pass. He completed his rehab assignment by treating the Saints players to breakfast sushi in Iowa (true story). When medical staff determined that López was still among the living after that questionable culinary decision (which, in fairness to him, he, too, expressed some doubts about), they judged that he was ready to join the parent club. The Twins are desperately clinging to the hope for relevance.
The best version of the 2025 Minnesota Twins features López in a prominent role at the front of the rotation. While it may be getting late early for the team, his return should hearten his teammates and fans alike, and will give the Twins a slightly better chance to win every fifth day. The bigger question (the answer to which I won’t speculate on) is what the corresponding move will be when López is called up. Will it be a like-for-like swap with his replacement? Or will someone from the current rotation slide into the bullpen, pushing a fringe relief arm out of the picture? Regardless of whom he replaces, López will give the middle-of-the-road pitching staff a shot in the arm.
Will López’s activation be enough to help the floundering Twins right the ship of their season, or is it too little, too late? Who do you think will be sent down? And who should be sent down? Weigh in below!
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