During spring training, veteran reliever Justin Topa had tendonitis in his left knee. Five days prior to the start of the season, the Twins put him on the disabled list.
On Thursday night, as he started his rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints, Twins fans got to see up close and personal with the recently acquired reliever from the Mariners for the first time since spring training. Over a career-high 75 games, Topa tossed 69 innings last season, recording a 2.61 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 21.9% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate.
Following two Tommy John surgeries in 2023, Topa had a breakthrough season. Throughout his career, he has undergone major surgeries.
Regarding his game day routine on Thursday, Topa remarked, “It felt good to just get back into the swing of things and go through a full regular game day again.” “I’m just happy with how it went today; it felt like the shapes of everything were there, making pitches where I needed to make pitches.”
On Thursday night, Topa just gave up one inning of relief. Due to Diego A. Castillo’s fielding blunder, the first hitter he faced reached. Topa proceeded to finish the inning on 15 pitches by striking out the side.
Topa didn’t give much thought to velocity on Thursday when he took the mound again. During his time with Seattle last season, his sinking fastball averaged 95 mph, but he never had a pitch top out at much than 92.6 mph.
“I feel like I’m very adrenaline-based at times, so I just had to get going again and get the body moving. I think it will come back once we keep adding games and building that aspect,” Topa remarked.
Justin Topa, Painted 97mph Two Seamer. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/uBZ1AGLM9E
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 13, 2023
The Saints manager, Toby Gardenhire, was thrilled with Topa’s performance on the mound on Thursday night and is eager to see what he can do for St. Paul the next time around.
Gardenhire declared, “He was great.” He had an inning tonight and looked amazing. He went out there and completed his inning. After we can get him back to the major leagues, it will be a great addition because his stuff is crisp and it’s the first time I’ve seen him throw.
Following spring training, Topa’s knee ailment not only hindered him on the mound but also caused him to miss time in the Twins and Saints clubhouse. He claimed, however, that he is still getting along well with his new teammates across the board.
“Obviously, the timing of the entire thing—getting hurt at the end of camp—was difficult. However, everyone has been amazing. Getting to know everyone who has been recovering at Target Field for the previous few weeks in the company of those players, and then coming down here and recognizing familiar faces from camp. Blending in with it and learning about the organization’s operations has been amazing, Topa remarked.
Topa felt rejuvenated after his rehab outing on Thursday, as he became again acquainted with his gameday routine. He expressed excitement for his good season with the Mariners in 2023 and mentioned the game day routine he experienced for the first time in a full season.
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Topa remarked, “Just getting back into it has been awesome. Those are like the small things when you’re coming back from injury that can impact a lot of things.”
This weekend, as the Saints wrap up their series against the Rochester Red Wings, Topa will play in another rehab game. Topa is excited to get back on the mound, regardless of the outcome, even if he is anticipated to limit his pitch count to a maximum of 25 this time.
