Top prospect Jenkins slowed by sprained left ankle

FORT MYERS, Fla. ¨C Twins top prospect Walker Jenkins recently suffered a left ankle sprain and is sidelined for the time being. The club estimates that Jenkins, MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 3 overall prospect, is ¡°one to two weeks behind¡± as a result of the injury.

The belief is that Jenkins¡¯ injury is minor, but any setback at all is a disappointment for the 20-year-old phenom. Jenkins suffered a significant left hamstring injury in his Minor League season opener last year, which caused him to miss two months and left him feeling somewhat limited for the entire season.

Jenkins suffered the injury jumping for a ball. The club is characterizing it as a mild high ankle sprain. Jenkins, a first-round Draft pick (fifth overall) in 2023, posted a .282/.394/.439 slash line across four Minor League levels in ¡®24.

Ryan on track
Right-hander Joe Ryan is expected to make his Grapefruit League debut next week.

Ryan did not pitch after Aug. 7 of last year as the result of a right shoulder strain. By all accounts, he has been progressing well throughout the offseason and early in the spring, and on Friday he threw two innings of live batting practice.

Ryan¡¯s next time throwing to hitters should be in a Spring Training game. That would likely be Wednesday at home against Baltimore or Thursday against the Yankees in Tampa.

¡°His progression is going good,¡± said Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta. ¡°His shoulder feels really good. He¡¯s had a really good ramp-up.¡±

Rodriguez, Raya updates
Two other top Twins prospects are recuperating from minor injuries.

Right-hander Marco Raya, the team¡¯s No. 5 prospect, was scratched from a scheduled pitching appearance on Friday due to a strained left quadriceps. Outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez, the team¡¯s No. 2 prospect and No. 37 in MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100, continues to progress from a sprained left ankle.

Raya should not miss much time. He is slated to throw a bullpen session early next week and live batting practice a few days after that, then get into a Grapefruit League game during the week of March 10.

Rodriguez¡¯s return might be slower. He is in ¡°the beginning phases of his running progression,¡± according to Paparesta. It¡¯s going well, but the club is going to be very cautious due to the fact that Rodriguez was already recuperating from offseason surgery on his left thumb.

As a result, the club does not want to ramp Rodriguez back up too quickly and cause a setback with the thumb, which has been healing well.

Castellano drawing attention
Rule 5 Draft pick Eiberson Castellano endured his first rough patch of the spring in Friday¡¯s 13-10 loss to the Orioles. But even in that game, he continued to show encouraging signs to Twins brass.

Castellano walked Livan Soto, the second batter he faced, then immediately allowed a home run to Jackson Holliday. But he then retired the last five batters he faced, showing solid resilience.

¡°I think we got more positives out of that outing than negatives,¡± said manager Rocco Baldelli.

Castellano faces a stiff challenge to make the Major League roster out of camp, given the depth of options the Twins have in their bullpen. But Baldelli said he has the staff¡¯s attention. Castellano remains a candidate as long as he¡¯s in camp.

Ober makes debut
Bailey Ober made his first Grapefruit League appearance of the year in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Red Sox at JetBlue Park, and it was nothing if not eventful. Ober lasted three innings, struck out six, allowed two runs on five hits, walked one and made a nifty play on a grounder by the speedy Jarren Duran.

¡°I feel like I was able to accomplish almost like a full game¡¯s worth of stuff,¡± Ober quipped. ¡°Had a PFP [pitchers¡¯ fielding practice], attempted pickoff, walked a guy, struck out a few and gave up a home run. So, not bad.¡±