Twins reliever Brock Stewart upbeat after leg issue forces him off mound

NORTH PORT, FLA. — The Twins’ bullpen has been projected to be among the best in the majors. They just need to make it through spring training healthy.

Nearly every injury of note this spring has been to a reliever, the latest coming on Saturday when Brock Stewart walked off the mound in the sixth inning of the team’s 4-0 win over the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park alongside a team trainer.

Fortunately for Stewart and the Twins, nothing is wrong with his surgically-repaired right shoulder. Instead, it was a little pull he in what he described as his left “low hammy, inner knee, high calf area” that forced him off the mound.

Stewart sounded upbeat talking about it after the game, noting that he came into the training room after coming out of the game and all the tests were good.

“Just felt a little something … when I planted and extended over my lead leg,” Stewart said. “Just felt a little pull and it was tender after that the next several pitches.”

Stewart, who did not pitch after last July and eventually had season-ending shoulder surgery, had gotten two outs in the inning before his day came to its abrupt end. He expects to know more on Sunday when he returns to Fort Myers and meets with team doctors.

And as for his all-important right arm, the one that has made him one of the most effective members of the Twins’ bullpen over the past two seasons when healthy?

“My right arm, honestly, the last really — ever since I got down to Florida, it’s just taken a turn for the better,” Stewart said. “My arm, my shoulder feels great. Nothing there.”

His flare up comes as the Twins are dealing with injuries to other relievers, some of whom may have made the major league roster out of camp and some of whom were depth options.

Michael Tonkin is dealing with a shoulder strain and Justin Topa had shoulder tightness, leaving one of his games early. Topa has since resumed throwing.

Matt Canterino, one of the most electric arms in the organization, has a shoulder injury yet again — shoulder issues wiped out his entire 2024 season — and non-roster invite Erasmo Ramírez has a significant tear in his shoulder, erasing a pair of depth options.

Woods Richardson continues strong spring

Simeon Woods Richardson was so efficient in his four innings of work on Saturday that the starter went out and finished his day in the visiting team’s bullpen.

Woods Richardson carved through a lineup filled with mostly Braves’ regulars in his four innings of work before heading off to the bullpen to get 10 more pitches in.

“He’s facing good hitters, good lineups,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s throwing the ball really good. The command of all his pitches is right where it was last year. … The fastball velocity is in a good place right now. There’s a lot to like.”

Sure is.

Woods Richardson allowed just one hit in his start, lowering his spring earned-run average to 0.82 in the process. The one earned run he gave up came in his second inning of work this spring.

“I think it just shows the everyday work that we put in in the organization and as both parties, me as a player and as an organization, come together, you get better every day,” Woods Richardson said.

Woods Richardson said he was still tinkering in the start, noting that he’s still working to make sure his arm slot is comfortable. After lowering it last year, he said the muscle memory is still not totally set in stone and he continues to modify it to this day.

“We’re still figuring stuff out along the way and that’s the fun part,” he said. “I think if you can see it through that lens, it’s a whole lot easier than getting complacent.”

Briefly

Pablo López will start on Sunday afternoon for the Twins when they take on the Boston Red Sox. He will be opposed by Garrett Crochet in a game that will mark the debut of Twins.TV. Cory Provus and Justin Morneau will be on the call along with sideline reporter Audra Martin. It is one of five Twins.TV broadcasts this spring, each of which will feature live interviews with players, coaches or members of the front office. … It was a quiet day at the park for Twins prospects, who boarded a bus and headed to Dunedin, Florida, to take on the best of the Blue Jays’ farm system. That group fell 10-0 to Toronto in the second annual Spring Breakout on Saturday, collecting just four hits and committing three errors in the loss.

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