MINNEAPOLIS -- Not much about Michael Helman’s professional career has worked out perfectly -- or even close to it -- so it really felt like he deserved for things to work out as they did for him and his family on Saturday night.

Helman was with Triple-A St. Paul on a road trip to Omaha, in his home state of Nebraska, where his entire family gathered to watch him and chat at the ballpark for a long while after the game, while the Saints’ clubhouse cleared out.

Then came the late call to the clubhouse: Helman, 28, would finally head to the Majors, taking the roster spot of the injured Manuel Margot. After all these years, Helman got to share the news of his callup with his entire family -- in person.

“Yeah. Yeah. I've been through a lot,” Helman said. “Honestly, I've been blessed with not only a lot of success, but a lot of struggles. That's just what comes along with it. It's part of the journey.”

Helman is finally a big leaguer after two seasons derailed by three hamstring strains and a dislocated shoulder. His callup was an added bonus on a day when the Twins also got needed reinforcements as part of September roster expansions, in the form of infielder Brooks Lee (the No. 2 prospect in the organization) and pitcher Diego Castillo.

Lee immediately became the Twins’ starting shortstop again on Sunday after his recovery from the biceps tendinitis that caused shoulder pain while both throwing and hitting, freeing up Willi Castro to move out to center field. Castillo will serve as depth for a depleted bullpen needing arms to step up, while Louie Varland almost certainly awaits another turn in the rotation.

With Margot going on the IL with a groin strain, Helman will take his right-handed bench spot and bring the power-speed combination that he showed off for a 20-40 season in the Minors in 2022, when he hit exactly 20 homers and stole exactly 40 bases in 135 games across Double-A and Triple-A.

The former 11th-round pick from the 2018 Draft didn’t show much power in his first taste of pro ball from 2018-19, when he hit seven homers in 121 games, but since the pandemic break, he’s hit 59 homers in 347 games across four seasons.

“Our player development group has been working with this guy for a while and has had a lot of belief in him,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He knows he can offer a lot of different things to a team. He’s been a good player, and when he’s been able to stay out there consistently, he’s been very productive.”

Though Helman first reached Triple-A as part of that impressive 2022 season and had been generating buzz around Spring Training heading into that follow-up '23 campaign, the first of those three left hamstring strains held him out of spring action until he was finally activated in late April. Then he immediately went back to the IL in mid-May with a dislocated shoulder.

After two and a half months sidelined with that injury, he again sustained a hamstring strain to begin this season. Then he reinjured it to cost him two more months from June to August.

“Honestly, it seemed like I would always deal with some injury as soon as I was feeling pretty good,” Helman said. “It's tough when you have a long time off and you're trying to get something clicking again. I don't really have much more to say about it. It's a tough journey.”

Grinding through all that and getting old for a prospect, Helman still put up a .911 OPS in limited action last year and an .875 OPS in 63 games this season. He’s now in the big league mix, able to pinch-run and play all over the infield and outfield to give Baldelli even more roster flexibility.

“It definitely makes it awesome to be here,” Helman said. “But at the same time, I don't know, it's tough going through all that. I know there's worse things in this world and stuff like that, and if I can get through multiple injuries, it's not that big of a deal.”

“It's sick,” Lee said. “We all love him. He's a great guy. Great teammate. He's had a crazy year, too, with the injuries. It's all worth it. It's just good to see him out here and I can't wait to play alongside him in the big leagues.”