Twins' Kyle Farmer to return soon after frightening fastball in the face

Infielder Kyle Farmer worked out with the Twins on Tuesday in anticipation of being activated from the injured list after recovering from facial and dental damage suffered when he was hit by a pitch on April 12 in a game against the White Sox.

He'll return sooner rather than later.

"We're going to assess him and see where he's at," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Get a full workout outside. We'll see how he's doing after [Tuesday] and decide if he's going to take any more at-bats or not. I think that decision is coming in the next 24 or 48 hours."

It seems remarkable that Farmer could return so quickly following an event in which four of his lower front teeth were pushed back. But there were no other breaks, and he didn't suffer a concussion.

Determined to get off the IL as fast of possible, Farmer spent last week at Class AAA St. Paul during a minor league rehabilitation assignment. In four games he batted .308 with three RBI and homered in his last game there Sunday.

The Twins will have to clear space on the 25-man roster to make room for Farmer.

Much of the talk before Tuesday's game centered on the Twins offense, which has been offensive in recent games. Their team batting average of .220 was the worst in the American League. They have hit the ball hard in recent games, but were fourth in the AL in strikeouts and have relied on home runs to score. And they are awful with the bases loaded, batting only .143.

Their ability to barrel pitches provides hope that more of their line drives going forward will fall in. But better at-bats are needed from a group of players with thousands of plate appearances of experience.

"I think it's probably something a little different for different groups of guys on our team," Baldelli said. "Just swinging at good pitches is the first place to start. Expanding and getting out of the zone, especially in key situations, is something I think we've done a little bit too much of."

The Twins have the players to generate offense. They need to start showing it.

"It's taking our walks and being more selective in the strike zone," shortstop and unofficial batting coach Carlos Correa said. "I'll say, be aggressive in the zone. But at the same time, you know, like I said, the guys have been working really hard in the cage. Obviously, we all want to figure it out at the same time but that's not how baseball works. At the end of the day, we're controlling the process. The results will, eventually, come."

Baldelli pointed out that the new schedule, in which teams are playing all 29 opponents for the first time, means they are preparing for teams they haven't seen in a long time and won't see again for a long time.

"It's more difficult to prepare for teams that you rarely see," Baldelli said. "You're preparing all this time for three days of games. It becomes a little bit different."

The Saints scored a combined seven runs in the third and fourth innings to rout Indianapolis 11-3 at CHS Field. Michael Helman drove in five runs and had a homer, and Trevor Larnach had three RBI.