Paddack returns in new role ahead of postseason

MINNEAPOLIS -- Chris Paddack found a gear when he appeared out of the bullpen for the first time in his career while on his rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul -- and he’s been waiting far too long for the opportunity to show it off in the Majors.

“I think coming out of the bullpen on Tuesday night changed my big league career,” Paddack said.

And after all that, Sheriff will need to wait a while longer to, well, actually pitch.

Sixteen months after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery, Paddack made his return to the active roster on Sunday, and this is no mere feel-good story. The Twins are looking at Paddack to be a real difference-maker out of their bullpen -- but his planned ‘23 debut was wiped out by a rain delay in the Twins’ 9-3 win over the Angels on Sunday at Target Field.

• Games remaining (6): vs. OAK (3), at COL (3)
• Standings update: The Twins (83-73) have clinched the American League Central and currently hold the AL’s No. 3 seed, meaning they would host a best-of-three Wild Card Series vs. the final Wild Card entrant starting on Oct. 3. Minnesota trails No. 2 seed Texas (87-68) by 4 1/2 games.

Paddack was fully warmed up, had been announced as the new pitcher and was in the process of jogging to the mound when the skies fully opened up and the teams entered a 50-minute rain delay. The game later resumed with Louie Varland on the mound, with Paddack likely to pitch on Tuesday.

“A wet blanket, if you will,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s worked for literally almost two years to get back for today to take the mound. … If there were any jitters, hopefully they're now left strewn on the field, kind of laying around. He is now really ready to pitch.”

Beyond this season, the Twins will look to Paddack as a core member of their starting rotation -- and they affirmed as much by signing him to a three-year, $12.5 million contract extension last offseason to take the pressure off his recovery. But Paddack was adamant that he wanted to help the Twins this season.

“I told them back in January, 'I don’t want you guys telling me I’m not pitching this year,'” Paddack said. “I want to have something to come back and shoot for. I’m very thankful and blessed that the rehab process, the progression and everything was really good. I’m just excited to be back with this group of guys.”

Given the timeline involved, that path took him to the bullpen, where he’s set to join a legion of last-second reinforcements that also include Varland and Brock Stewart. And now, that might even involve Kenta Maeda, with Baldelli announcing after Sunday’s game that Maeda’s next outing will be in relief.

Those latecomers could fundamentally reshape the composition of the Twins’ bullpen into October, and they have a week to figure out how the pieces fit together.

Baldelli said the Twins will go through this final stretch with “eyes wide open” to gain as much information as possible about where those pitchers are at, but the club already has a good idea of how it wants to use those pitchers.

Varland has already been used in multi-innings bridge appearances in the middle innings and has even seen time as a seventh-inning setup man. Paddack and Maeda could also pitch in a similar multi-inning bridge role, and if Stewart is anywhere close to where he was when he went on the IL in June, he could be one of the Twins’ high-leverage, late-innings arms.

“There are just different things that I’m hoping … that I can use these next nine days, seven days, whatever it is, to knock that last bit of rust off and get ready for the playoffs,” Paddack said.

As Paddack built up, he grew more and more encouraged as he completed his recovery, with his stuff playing up more than ever before. His fastball touched 98.2 mph in that final rehab outing with St. Paul, which would have marked the hardest pitch of his MLB career.

Paddack said he put on 20 pounds through the rehab process, “by far the strongest and heaviest” he’s ever been. And through that bullpen appearance for St. Paul, he learned that even after a career of starting, he does react well to having to be ready on a moment’s notice and go full-bore from the first pitch -- and keeping that switch on. He hadn’t seen that side of himself before.

He’ll just have to wait a few more days to share it with the world.

“He looks phenomenal,” Baldelli said. “His body looks phenomenal. He’s done everything diligently. … I think he’s going to enjoy it more than anyone, but we’re going to enjoy this a lot.”