WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. – A few days after the Twins announced four pitchers will begin the season on the injured list, and Anthony DeSclafani may miss the entire 2024 season, they finally received some good injury news.
Max Kepler, who was scratched from Wednesday’s game with left pectoral tightness, checked out fine after he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam.
“It seems like [Kepler] is in a pretty good spot,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Thursday morning. “We got some imaging done. We didn’t find anything concerning on the imaging, which is great.”
Twins reliever Jorge Alcala exited Wednesday’s game in the ninth inning two pitches after he caught a line drive comebacker on the mound. The ball, which had a 92-mph exit velocity, deflected off two fingertips on Alcala’s pitching hand before it went into his glove.
A postgame X-ray did not show a fracture.
“His index finger and his middle finger got struck by the ball,” Baldelli said. “I think his hand was pretty numb. We weren’t going to have him pitch if he can’t really feel his fingers.”
The updates on Kepler and Alcala were welcome news after the Twins learned over a 48-hour stretch that DeSclafani felt more pain in his elbow, Jhoan Duran suffered an oblique strain and Caleb Thielbar experienced more tightness in his left hamstring. Zack Weiss, an offseason waiver claim, will also begin the season on the IL, though he’s begun throwing after an earlier shoulder injury.
“When there are 60 guys in camp, there are going to be a lot of things going on over the course of six weeks,” Baldelli said. “[Wednesday] was a day that probably could’ve ended a little worse than it did, so we’ll be pleased with the outcomes.”
