It’s usually tough being traded midseason, and even more tough when you’re a pitcher that has to face the old team only a week after the trade.
That was the situation Chris Paddack was in after the Twins sent him to Detroit on July 28, the first of nine trades that sent 10 players to parts east, west and south before the July 31 trade deadline.
Only seven days after the Twins sent Paddack and right-hander Randy Dobnak to Detroit for Class A catching prospect Enrique Jimenez, the in-jokes were still fresh.
“But you have to lock in,” Paddack said from Target Field’s visiting clubhouse on Friday. “They gave me a little taste of my own blood, you know. They put up four runs, and I only had one swing-and-miss, to Royce (Lewis), and it came in the fourth inning.”
The Twins touched Paddack for four runs on six hits in four innings of a 6-3 loss. In his other two starts for Detroit, Paddack — who is 1-1 with a 3.45 ERA since the trade — pitched into the sixth inning and allowed one run in each.
But Paddack has another shot against his former team in Sunday’s series finale.
“Definitely going into this outing with a little revenge in mind,” he said. “I know those guys were good friends and good teammates, but they’re trying to take food off my plate, and it comes down to who wants it more.”
Paddack, 29, had a strange three-plus seasons in Minnesota. Sidelined by a second ligament replacement surgery in his right arm, he made nine combined appearances in his first two seasons, and still signed a three-year, $12.5 million contract extension in 2023.
He made four relief appearances in 2023, the last two in the division series against Houston. So, landing with a first-place team, he said, was exciting.
“That’s why we play,” he said. “I feel very fortunate to be on the top end of the trade. I feel like it’s much easier to accept whenever you’re going to a contender versus maybe a team that’s rebuilding.”
In this equation, that would be the Twins, who on Saturday started three players (Austin Martin, Luke Keaschall and James Outman) with a combined 43 major leagues this season, and five who weren’t on the Opening Day roster (Martin, Keaschall, Outman, Brooks Lee and Kody Clemens).
“Obviously, it stinks with what happened over there: eleven guys going different directions, and ownership wanting to rebuild, or sell, whatever their plan is with the Twins,” Paddack said.
In the meantime, Paddack finds himself in a clubhouse that was loose and happy before Friday’s game.
“Everybody expects to win,” said Paddack, a free agent at season’s end. “So, you come to the field, you relax, you enjoy it, and be present. But it’s time to toe the rubber or get in the box, or make some plays defensively, the guys step up and expect to win ballgames.”
Roden sent to IL
Before Friday’s game, the Twins placed outfielder Alan Roden on the injury list with a sprained left thumb and recalled Outman from Class AAA St. Paul. He made his first start for the Twins in left field.
Roden, an outfield prospect in Toronto acquired in the deal that sent Louie Varland to the Blue Jays, was playing consistently before he reinjured the thumb while sliding head first into home plate in Friday’s 4-3, 11-inning loss to the Tigers.
“Roden has to see the doctor,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s going to see a hand specialist. I don’t know what day that is.”
Briefly
Pablo Lopez, who threw to live hitters Friday for the first time since injuring his right shoulder in June, said he felt good Saturday and expected to throw again in four to five days. With the Saints in town next week, it’s possible he takes his next step at CHS Field.
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