López, sidelined since June, to make first rehab start Thursday

MINNEAPOLIS -- Thanks to injuries and trades, the Twins don’t currently have enough starting pitchers to fill out a regular rotation. Before long, they may have too many.

Pablo López, who has been out since June 3, will make his first Minor League rehabilitation start on Thursday at Triple-A St. Paul as he continues his recovery from a teres major muscle strain in his right shoulder. He will likely make multiple rehab starts, but his return to Major League action is now very much on the horizon.

And two other Minnesota starters are also getting closer to returning. Simeon Woods Richardson will “piggyback” López on Thursday, throwing about four innings or 65 pitches, and his next start after that could be with the Twins in Toronto. Right-hander David Festa is farther away than the other two, but he will face hitters Saturday for the first time since he was shut down due to a right shoulder injury.

Beyond all that, the club could add two other promising starters at some point in the near future. No. 6 prospect Mick Abel and Taj Bradley, two of the biggest prizes in the Twins’ Trade Deadline sell-off, could be getting closer to making their debuts with the big league club. No date has been set for either to arrive, but it’s expected that both will appear before the season is up, at the latest.

López, the Twins’ Opening Day starter, will throw three innings or 45 pitches, whichever comes first, on Thursday.

“He hasn’t had any issues,” said Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta. “No complaints of anything as he’s gone along. His velocities have all stayed well. His analytics stuff looks great during his outings off the mound each time and now it’s just a matter of building him up, building the workload, get the work capacity like we’ve talked about before up and really just making sure his pitches are where where they need to be and that he’s comfortable with them and that he’s happy with what it looks like.”

When López last started, on June 3 against the Athletics, the Twins were 33-27 and leading the American League Wild Card race. Since that day, they’ve gone 25-41 and fallen out of playoff contention following a Trade Deadline sell-off that saw 10 players dealt off of the Major League roster. His absence is far from the only reason for the fall, but it’s accurate to say he’s been dearly missed.

Woods Richardson has been out since late July after suffering from an internal illness. He said he has regained the weight he lost during the ordeal and is feeling well. If that continues to be the case, Thursday could mark his final rehab appearance before rejoining the rotation.

Festa, who was sidelined a few days before Woods Richardson’s illness, will throw batting practice at St. Paul on Saturday. If that goes well, then the likely next step would be for him to begin a rehabilitation assignment five or six days later. He would then probably need two or three rehab starts before returning to Major League action.

Once all three are back, that makes six starters for five spots. And that’s not even counting Abel and Bradley, who are currently pitching in St. Paul’s rotation and will be added to the Major League starting mix at some point before the season ends.

Vazquez update

Paparesta also gave an update on catcher Christian Vázquez, who is on the injured list due to an infection in his left shoulder. Vázquez is home in Florida, recovering after undergoing surgery to remove the infection, which was connected to a milder infection he suffered in his elbow a few days prior.

Vázquez will remain in Florida for about two more weeks and will be on a course of antibiotics for three weeks. He’s currently receiving three treatments per day while also undergoing physical therapy on his shoulder.

The club has not ruled out the possibility that Vázquez might play again in 2025, but he is certainly a good way off from any kind of baseball activity.

“He’s working out,” Paparesta said. "He’s trying to avoid surgery because he’s got that PICC line in for the antibiotics to go in every day. And then three times a day, somebody comes to the house and they stick an AV antibiotic in and basically run the antibiotics through his system.”

Roden undergoes surgery

Outfielder Alan Roden, acquired from the Blue Jays in the trade that sent Louie Varland to Toronto, will undergo surgery on Friday to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his injured left thumb. Roden was already ruled out for the remainder of the season once the Twins placed him on the 60-day injured list.