Topa exits game early with right shoulder tightness

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Reliever Justin Topa suffered an arm injury during Wednesday¡¯s Grapefruit League game against the Orioles. Topa was removed from the game after seven pitches.

¡°Topa has some right shoulder tightness,¡± manager Rocco Baldelli said after Minnesota's 5-2 loss at Hammond Stadium. ¡°He got a preliminary look by the medical staff. We¡¯re going to see how he responds tomorrow and see how he comes in. It¡¯s obviously not something that you¡¯re looking to see, but we¡¯re not going to jump to any conclusions.

¡°We¡¯ll see how he is tomorrow. It doesn¡¯t appear to be anything overly serious the way he¡¯s describing it and talking about it, but he did feel something that he didn¡¯t like. We¡¯re going to call it tightness for now, but we¡¯ll have a more specified update tomorrow or the following day. ¡°

Topa put up outstanding numbers as a member of the Mariners' bullpen in 2023, his only full Major League season. He was acquired by Minnesota in January ¡¯24 as part of the deal that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle.

However, Topa made only three appearances all last year for the Twins, missing nearly all of the season due to an injury to the patellar tendon in his left knee.

Stewart returns
In better bullpen news, right-hander Brock Stewart returned to the mound Wednesday. Stewart allowed one run, one hit and one walk, and struck out one batter in two-thirds of an inning. It was his first game appearance since he underwent right shoulder surgery in August of last season.

¡°I thought Brock was the highlight of the day for me watching the game,¡± said Baldelli. "The stuff looked like vintage Brock Stewart. I think he was pumped to be back out there on the mound. I think his body's responding really well. I think everyone on the staff watching him was really excited about everything we got in that in that outing."

Stewart was delighted with his stuff, and understandably felt that his location is a work in progress. He said he¡¯s hoping to break camp on the active roster. But regardless, he was thrilled to be in a competitive game again.

¡°It¡¯s a big deal for me,¡± he said. ¡°Any time you go under the knife, or under the suture, it¡¯s a big deal. I¡¯ve thrown live BP, three of them, but that was the first game action. To get out there with an umpire behind the catcher and a hitter in the box, people in the seats, yeah. Felt great. It was fun to do it again, and hoping to build off of it.¡±

Magic Martin
Utility man Austin Martin was drafted as an infielder and played more center field than anything else in the Minor Leagues. On Wednesday, he showed some real ability in left field as well. Martin made an impressive running catch in the left-field corner on the first play of the game and a nifty diving catch to end the fourth inning. Both plays came behind starter Pablo López, and the right-hander was most appreciative.

¡°He can do that at any position,¡± L¨®pez said. ¡°He goes out there and he¡¯s so athletic that he just makes those plays. He just gets up, runs inside and throws a ball in. I do appreciate that as a pitcher.¡±

¡®Frozen¡¯ ropes?
Twins players held their annual talent show on Wednesday morning, with participation from quite a bit of the roster. A group including Christian V¨¢zquez, Yunior Severino, Diego Cartaya and Emmanuel Rodriguez took top honors for their dance routine set to music from ¡°Frozen.¡± They even had costumes, with Severino in an Olaf costume and Cartaya as Anna.

A little history
The Twins¡¯ 0-0 tie against the Braves on Tuesday wasn¡¯t just unusual, it was historic. According to research by Twins media relations, it was the first 0-0 tie the Twins have played since March 24, 1992. And that game only lasted five innings. It¡¯s been even longer since they played a nine-inning 0-0 tie, and it¡¯s possible that they never have.