Twins injury updates: Justin Topa progressing, Alex Kirilloff's rehab shut down

Topa is playing catch and throwing from 60 feet with no issues.

Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Justin Topa (48) poses for a photo during photo day at Hammond Stadium in Lee County, Fla., on Feb. 22, 2024. / Kim Klement Neitzel / USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a long and frustrating road to recovery for Twins reliever Justin Topa. 

Topa, whom the Twins acquired in the offseason trade that send Jorge Polanco to the Seattle Mariners, is still yet to make his debut for Minnesota, though he’s been on the cusp of returning on multiple occasions since starting the season on the injured list due to left knee tendinitis. 

Topa made four rehab appearances with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints from late April to early May, but suffered a partial tear of the patellar tendon in his injured left knee, and he had to be shut down for six weeks and receive a platelet-rich plasma injection. Topa eventually recovered, and his knee was feeling great as he ramped back up, beginning another rehab stint in on July 23 in Fort Myers, Fla.

Topa continued progressing and was perhaps closer to returning than ever, making five appearances at Triple-A before experiencing tightness in his right arm, and he was shut down once again.

“It’s just been frustrating getting close and then set back with a knee the first time — the knee has been feeling probably the best it’s felt — and then obviously this pops up, but you just kind of roll with the punches and trying to find the silver lining in everything,” Topa said. 

Topa is once again inching his way closer to a return. He’s playing catch and throwing from 60 feet with no issues. He said the plan is to continue playing catch for the next two weeks before he will begin throwing from the mound. While there’s a time crunch on a potential return with the season winding down, Topa believes there is still enough time to ramp up and join the Twins bullpen this year.

“I think once we get past the point of doing the flat ground work and getting on the mound, I think it’s going to be a relatively quick ramp up,” he said. “Not in the sense of like we’re going to try and overdo it, but in the sense of I threw enough in St. Paul the first go-around.” 

While Topa is still a ways off from getting back, his return at any point this season could be a boon for a Twins bullpen that’s seen some blowups of late. That led to a recent shake-up in which the Twins designated Steven Okert for release or assignment and selected Scott Blewett’s contract. 

Topa isn’t the only Twin who’s in the midst of a setback. The Twins pulled Alex Kirilloff off his rehab assignment Saturday night due to what Twins manager Rocco Baldelli described Sunday as “residual back soreness.” Kirilloff has been on the injured list since June 13 due to back issues. 

“(Kirilloff is) not gonna continue for the time being,” Baldelli said. “We’re gonna let it calm down before we decide, you know, exactly what we’re going to do next.”