Emmanuel Rodriguez among Twins' first cuts of spring training

SARASOTA, FLA. – Outfield prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez, his sprained ankle and surgically repaired thumb healing well, will soon be healthy enough to play, the Twins believe.

But playing for the St. Paul Saints probably.

Rodriguez was optioned to the Twins’ minor league camp Sunday without ever appearing in a Grapefruit League game, one of nine players sent across the team’s spring compound in the first cuts of training camp.

A trio of righthanded pitchers on the 40-man roster, two of whom have been battling injuries of their own this spring, were also optioned to minor league camp Sunday morning: Matt Canterino, Marco Raya and Travis Adams.

And after the Twins’ 4-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium, the team announced that five nonroster players had been reassigned to minor league camp as well. That quintet included Randy Dobnak — who pitched three scoreless innings Sunday shortly before getting the news — plus fellow righthanders Erasmo Ramírez and Cory Lewis, catcher Alex Isola and infielder Yunior Severino.

Canterino, 27, pitched just one inning, walking three of the six hitters he faced, before being shut down with a shoulder injury similar to the one that sidelined him for all of last season. Raya, 22, suffered a strained quadriceps and didn’t make his spring debut until Saturday, when he walked two of the five hitters he faced and hit the other three.

If healthy, any of the optioned players could still be summoned to play in Grapefruit League games this spring to allow the major league staff to see them in action, but they will begin the regular season at either Class AAA St. Paul or Class AA Wichita.

“That could’ve been bad,” Chris Paddack said Sunday morning, about 20 hours after a 97-mph line drive smacked him just above the right ear.

It wasn’t, however, because the righthander managed to slightly deflect the missile, hit by Boston’s Kristian Campbell, with his glove. The mornings spent on pitcher fielding practice came in handy, he said.

“We practice with a little foam baseball, for reaction time. When your adrenaline is pumping, your body kind of goes into survival mode,” he said. “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.”

Paddack said he went through a checklist in his mind after the play was over: vision, hearing, mobility. And he answered the trainer’s questions correctly, passing the required concussion protocol. Paddack has a small bump on his head but no serious swelling.

Three batters earlier, a line drive had bounced off his shin and “to be honest, man, that one is still stinging a bit. More so than my head,” Paddack said. “I’m walking away with a positive, for sure.”

DaShawn Keirsey “runs like a gazelle,” pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson said of the center fielder, a compliment that struck Keirsey as rewarding as the remarkable, Buxtonian catch he made in the third inning of Sunday’s game.

“That’s one of my favorite parts” of making great defensive plays, Keirsey said. “I’m always locked in in that moment, but when I get to see the pitcher [applaud] on the mound, it’s a good feeling.”

He earned it with an all-out dive in right-center field, a parallel-to-the-ground robbery just inches from the grass that cost the Orioles' Livan Soto a potential extra-base hit.

“DeShawn is doing a really nice job. He’s taking some ownership of his potential role and the kind of player he is, and embracing it,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the 27-year-old rookie, who hit a drag-bunt single in his next at-bat. “He’s an exciting player.”

The rest of the game wasn’t as exciting, though Woods Richardson pitched well. He gave up three runs, but they were unearned, the product of throwing errors by first baseman Edouard Julien on back-to-back plays immediately after Keirsey’s great catch. A potential inning-ending double-play ball was wasted when Julien’s throw to second base deflected off the helmet of baserunner Ramon Laureano. Then Julien fielded a chopper and threw home in an attempt to keep Laureano from scoring, but his throw was in the dirt and skipped past catcher Ryan Jeffers.

The Twins couldn’t touch Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano, who pitched three perfect innings, striking out five, but rallied with home runs by Matt Wallner, Brooks Lee and Julien.