Neal: Twins' Brock Stewart battles injuries through all levels of baseball, soldiers on

FORT MYERS, FLA. - I sat down with Brock Stewart at Hammond Stadium and got right to the point.

I asked him about the “R” word. Retirement.

That is, retirement from rehabilitation.

It brought a smile from Stewart, who renovated his career at age 29 in 2020 but had Tommy John surgery a few months later and has faced arm and elbow problems since.

“Some guys don’t get hurt,” Stewart said. “Some guys seem to get hurt a lot. I might be one of those guys, but it is what it is. I like to think that I do everything I can to stay healthy. It just hasn’t worked out that way. I feel good right now, so I’m gonna take that and run with it. Hopefully keep building and feel strong. I feel healthy, I feel confident. Keep going.”

The Twins benefit from Stewart’s resolve. When healthy, he’s been a force. He posted a 0.65 ERA in 2023, his first season with the team. But that year was interrupted by a nerve issue in his elbow that forced him to miss the middle of the season.

Last year, he began the season with a 12⅓ scoreless streak before four poor outings. Then he needed shoulder surgery. Back on the rehab trail so he can show off the newest version of himself again.

Stewart went from a struggling pitcher with a 91-mph fastball to not having a major league job to playing for the Chicago Deep Dish independent league team to overhauling his mechanics to join this generation of max-effort pitchers. It has given him a chance to stick in the majors.

It also has challenged that resolve.

While he’s thrown only 43⅓ innings for the Twins in two seasons, the Twins should be dreaming about what they have when he’s healthy.

But with max-effort pitchers — I’ll accept a more accurate term when I hear one that makes sense — comes a greater risk of injuries. Or so it seems.

I was at the Charlotte Sports Park on Friday as the Twins prepared to face the Rays. Tampa Bay had eight pitchers undergo Tommy John surgeries between 2020 and ′23. Shane McClanahan, with an above-average fastball, is returning this season following surgery and rehab.

Pitching injuries seem to be an inevitability, as they visit data-driven pitching centers to overhaul their mechanics to get the most of their delivery and add velocity.

It’s not stopping pitchers from trying everything available to throw harder. Stewart’s fastball can touch 100 mph, and he mixes in four other pitches. When he has command of them all, he is as unhittable as any Twins reliever. He just needs to stay healthy.

Technology continues to evolve, and pitchers wear sleeves to track the torque on their arms or use other devices to help them remain mechanically aligned and avoid injuries.

Stewart made his spring training debut on Wednesday against Baltimore. His best fastball reached 97.5 mph. He averaged 97.0 last season.

“The cream rises to the top of it, to some extent,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “The guys who can handle it will be the guys that are successful relievers.

Jeffers lauded Stewart’s work ethic, “and you can see that from the transformation. You hope he can stay healthy, because he’s one of our best bullpen arms. There’s no arguing that.”

Wearing a uniform with a slice of pizza on it for a while gives one perspective. Stewart hasn’t given up. He returned to the majors and reinvented himself. Any day in the majors is better than what he had in 2020 and ′21.

“It wasn’t always easy, and it’s never easy,” Stewart said. “This surgery and this rehab wasn’t easy. Never is, but I guess you kind of get used to it because you’ve dealt with injuries and surgeries.

“But, I mean, my life is good. I have a good family. I have a wife that loves me, two kids that love me. Baseball is not everything that I am, you know, it’s not who I am. So I kind of had that back in my mind, and yeah, I love it.”