MINNEAPOLIS -- Once the July 30 Trade Deadline comes and goes and the Twins likely emerge from the other side as a younger team, there will be plenty of time for the club to take a long look at some of its young talent, to both evaluate and prepare them for the future.

Still, the Twins don't need to wait that long for those lessons to begin.

Take, for example, Monday's game against the White Sox, when manager Rocco Baldelli let rookie right-hander Bailey Ober blow past his season-high in pitches and face Yoán Moncada with two men on in a close game in the fifth. In another season, Ober would have been long gone by then.

But with the Twins effectively out of contention in July and needing to see if Ober could be a rotation piece for 2022 and beyond, they chose to test him in that situation -- or have him learn from it. And he escaped the jam, much to their pleasure.

Expect to see more of that throughout the rest of the season.

“Yeah, we’re going to selectively do that when we can going forward," Baldelli said. "In specific situations, challenging our guys, letting them go out there and learn, hopefully succeed, sometimes fail, but hopefully get something out of it -- any opportunity we can."

What could that look like?

It could mean pitchers like Ober and young right-hander Griffin Jax being left in for those situations more often. Maybe it means Jorge Alcala could see more high-leverage innings out of the bullpen. Perhaps the Twins will test young left-handed hitters Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach against tough southpaws, or give Nick Gordon more appearances around center field and even third base and shortstop.

This kind of management is relatively uncharted territory for Baldelli, who managed a pair of division champion teams in 2019 and '20, his first two seasons as a skipper at any level -- but considering his background in player development, the importance of these opportunities isn't lost on him.

"With young players, these types of situations become very, very valuable going forward, and I think we’re going to have some opportunities to do that," Baldelli said. "And also put our guys in a position to succeed and win ballgames, but develop some skills and develop some game awareness that they haven’t really been exposed to before, that they haven’t seen before."

Sanó to remain in platoon role
Miguel Sanó's bat has responded well to his more selective usage since he was dropped into a platoon role in the last month, with the slugger having posted a .333 average, .405 on-base percentage and a 1.011 OPS over his last 11 games.

Though Sanó has now seen three starts against right-handed pitching in the last week amid that surge at the plate, Baldelli indicated that the Twins don't have any plans at the moment for upping his playing time.

"I don't think that's going to be the case," Baldelli said. "I think we're going to carry on in the direction that we've been going and using our guys in the manner we've been using them. When we can get a guy out there that's swinging the bat well, we'll try and get him out there."

It's worth noting that two of those starts came in place of an ailing Nelson Cruz, who was out with a bad chest cold, and those had marked Sanó's first starts against right-handed pitching since June 15. He only faced left-handed pitchers in every start from June 16 to July 4, with the Twins preferring to play Alex Kirilloff at first base against righties.

But Sanó has also made a big impact in his limited appearances, too, and has the game-changing power rivaled by few in the game when he can make contact, as evidenced by the fact that seven of his 15 homers this season have either tied the game or put the Twins ahead.

All that's to say: He's fully capable of forcing the issue, but he hasn't just yet.

"Miggy's been going out there and competing pretty well against almost anyone that we put him out there to face," Baldelli said. "Like I said, it'll be a good rotation. Miggy, if he's going to go out there and compete the way he's competing, we're going to work to get him his ABs."

Briefly
• Mitch Garver (groin) and Jake Cave (back) are expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul next week, Baldelli said. Garver has been on the injured list since June 2, a day after he took a foul ball off his groin and required emergency surgery, while Cave went to the 60-day IL on May 15 with a fracture to one of the vertebrae in his back.

• Right-hander Josh Winder is cleared for baseball activities and "looking good" to still represent the Twins in Sunday's upcoming All-Star Futures Game in Denver, according to a source, after he departed his Wednesday start for Triple-A St. Paul in the third inning after being struck by a comebacker on the mound. Winder is ranked the No. 12 prospect in the Twins' organization by MLB Pipeline and will be Minnesota's sole representative in the game.