Paddack thankful to be 'walking away with a positive' from scary line drives

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Chris Paddack expressed relief and gratitude on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after he was struck by not one, but two batted balls in an abbreviated outing against the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.

The scarier one, by far, hit Paddack¡¯s glove before striking him in the side of the head. The more painful one by Sunday morning, however, was the earlier ball that hit him on the right triceps. However, neither will keep him out for any period of time. Paddack expects to throw his regular bullpen session on Monday and take his next turn in the rotation as scheduled.

That doesn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t shaken up in the moment, however.

¡°I got hit right behind the right ear,¡± Paddack said. ¡°I was throwing a fastball at the top of the zone. Next thing I know, I¡¯m tracking it, keeping my eyes on it, love the location. Next thing I know, [Christian V¨¢zquez] never caught it. It¡¯s coming right back at me on a line. ¡­

¡°When your adrenaline is pumping, where your body kind of goes into survival mode, it actually happens a lot slower, but it happens so fast at the same time. That¡¯s what I was shaken up about. Thank goodness I was able to get some leather on it. Shoutout to Nokona for making some quality leather. So just, thankful, I know the great Lord above is looking out over me, because that could¡¯ve been bad.¡±

Paddack was told to pay attention for symptoms of a more serious head injury, such as diminished vision or hearing, or trouble sleeping. He has not experienced any of them. The only lingering effect he was feeling on Sunday morning was in his arm, where he said there was still some discomfort from the first liner that hit him.

However, that also shouldn¡¯t be enough to keep Paddack from taking the mound as scheduled.

¡°There was no abnormal swelling or anything that we had to address,¡± he said. ¡°They have some pink tape they call it, I think it does help a little bit on the swelling. More kind of that sensitive bruise-type sensation. ¡­ To be honest, man, that one is still stinging a bit. More so than the head. I¡¯m walking away with a positive for sure.¡±

Twins announce first cuts

The Twins announced their first round of cuts on Sunday, and while there were a couple of prominent names, there were no real surprises among the nine players trimmed from Major League camp.

Emmanuel Rodriguez, the team¡¯s No. 2 prospect, was the most notable name of the four players optioned to Triple-A St. Paul. Rodriguez has not gotten into games as he recovers from a left ankle sprain. Right-handers Marco Raya (No. 6), Travis Adams (No. 22) and Matt Canterino were also optioned to St. Paul. Canterino is also dealing with an injury, a right shoulder strain that may keep him out for some time.

Pitchers Randy Dobnak, Cory Lewis and Erasmo Ram¨ªrez, catcher Alex Isola and infielder Yunior Severino were reassigned to Minor League camp. Ramirez is also recovering from a right shoulder injury that will sideline him for quite a while.

France feeling like himself again

As a veteran of six years in the big leagues, Ty France knows not to make too much -- or anything, really -- of numbers in Spring Training. But he knows when he feels right and when he doesn¡¯t, and he¡¯s grateful that he feels right again.

France dealt with a right heel injury for the bulk of 2024. He suffered a fracture in June, and pain in his foot lingered throughout the season. At the time of the injury, he had a .251/.329/.403 batting line -- not spectacular, but not out of line with his career performance (.263/.337/.407). From his return to the end of the season, he hit .220/.285/.336.

The 30-year-old veteran explained that the injury put him in a position of ¡°cheating¡± on pitches because he was not able to be explosive in pushing off of his back foot. Cheating refers to starting a swing early and hoping it¡¯s in the right place, rather than seeing a pitch and reacting. This spring, he feels able to let pitches travel, see them, and react. That allows him to hit the ball with more authority to all fields.

So, France knows full well that he won¡¯t be hitting .550 and slugging over 1.000 in the season, or even for the rest of the spring. But he feels capable of being the player he was prior to last year.

¡°It¡¯s what we worked all offseason for, was to try to get back to this,¡± he said. ¡°Obviously these numbers are a little inflated, but I feel really good. It¡¯s just that confidence of being able to use the whole field again. Letting the ball travel and knowing I can get to it without having to cheat.¡±

Matthews getting back on schedule

Right-hander Zebby Matthews, who suffered a right hip flexor strain in Thursday¡¯s game against the Yankees, threw a bullpen session on Sunday. That¡¯s an encouraging sign for Matthews, who is competing for a rotation spot.