Twins' top minor leaguers deal with injuries, but the big league roster is mostly unscathed

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Two weeks into training camp, the Twins’ major leaguers have largely avoided injury.

Their most promising minor leaguers, though? It’s been a little rougher.

Outfielders Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez and pitcher Marco Raya — each of whom is ranked among the Twins’ top 10 prospects by Baseball America — are all sidelined by injuries, the team said Saturday. Fortunately for the Twins, all three conditions are considered minor and unlikely to linger into the season.

Jenkins, the 20-year-old who advanced to Class AA Wichita last summer, suffered a mild sprain of his left ankle while jumping for a ball last week. The Twins’ 2023 first-round pick, ranked the fifth-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, will be limited in his workouts for a week or two, the team said.

Meanwhile, Raya, a hard-throwing 22-year-old righthander, strained his left quad during a bullpen session Wednesday and did not pitch as scheduled on Saturday.

“We’re going to get him running this weekend and get him on the mound again Tuesday for a bullpen session,” said Nick Paparesta, the Twins head athletic trainer. “Probably a little bit of a setback for him, but everything is very mild.”

Raya, a fourth-round pick in 2020, is expected to start the season at Class AAA St. Paul.

Rodriguez has been slow to take part in drills because of a “moderate” sprain to his left ankle that occurred the weekend before camp started. The 22-year-old outfielder, ranked by Baseball America as the No. 19 prospect in baseball, “is currently in the beginning phases of his running progression,” Paparesta said, but the Twins are being especially careful because of the thumb surgery he underwent over the winter.

“We don’t want him to go from zero, not doing anything, and then just right into hitting again with full activity,” Paparesta said. “We’ll get him into [live batting practice] next week.”

The Twins gathered early Friday morning to “get a taste of reality” along with their breakfast, according to Charles Adams III, the team’s director of security.

A team of security officials from Major League Baseball gave a 45-minute presentation about issues players should be aware of — issues that reflect the rapidly changing world.

Chief among them: the increasing prevalence of sports gambling among fans, and the players’ responsibility to avoid any involvement. “Stay away from anything to do with baseball, especially,” Adams said the players were told, or face suspension or even banishment from the sport. “It’s a little easier to avoid because you can’t [legally] bet on sports in Minnesota, but they still have to be careful.”

The presentation also warned players about a series of burglaries around the country that targeted the homes of professional athletes while they were on the road. Timberwolves guard Mike Conley and former Wolves star Karl-Anthony Towns were the targets of a burglary ring in the Twin Cities, and the Twins received advice on how to prevent becoming victims.

Another issue: reports of players being extorted by criminals using doctored or AI-generated photographs depicting illegal or embarrassing behavior.

Scary stuff, right? “Maybe, but it’s reality,” Adams said. “It’s just something we want guys to be aware of, so they know what resources are available to them and so they can take the right steps if something comes up.”

Bailey Ober experienced “a little bit of everything,” the righthander said, during his first Grapefruit League start, an 8-4 loss to the Red Sox at JetBlue Park.

“I feel like I was able to accomplish almost a full game’s worth of stuff” during his three-inning start, Ober said. “A [fielding play], attempted pickoff, walked a guy, struck out a few [six, actually] and gave up a home run. So, not bad.”

Danny Coulombe surrendered two runs in his inning of work, and David Festa gave up four runs on five hits while recording seven outs. Only Louie Varland, among the pitchers likely to make the major league team, emerged unscathed, though he gave up two hits.

A former Red Sox player had a good day for the Twins, though: Mickey Gasper, acquired in a December trade with Boston, went 2-for-4 against his former teammates, and Christian Vázquez drove in two runs with a sixth-inning single.

Pitcher Griffin Jax returned to Twins camp Saturday following the birth on Wednesday of a healthy baby boy, the second child of Jax and his wife, Savannah.