Twins’ Brock Stewart on shoulder injury: ‘It was not a good feeling’

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The Twins didn’t have an official update on the health of reliever Brock Stewart on Friday. The team was waiting to see results of a magnetic resonance imaging exam before a 7:10 p.m. first pitch against the White Sox at Target Field.

Stewart, however, knows what it was he felt in his right shoulder during a rough two-third of an inning in a 15-2 loss to the Mets in New York on Monday.

“It was not a good feeling, and it was a feeling that I hadn’t really felt before,” the veteran right-hander said. “So, I relayed that to the training staff. Here we are.”

Stewart, 32, was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a shoulder strain, which suggests he can work his way back into the bullpen and help as the Twins try to overtake Cleveland in the American League Central. But since joining the Twins mid-season last year, Stewart has never made a quick trip to the injured list.

Last season, Stewart was placed on the 15-day IL with elbow soreness before being transferred to the 60-day IL. This season, he hit the 15-day IL with shoulder tendinitis before being transferred to the 60-day.

It’s frustrating for player and team because Stewart has been generally excellent when he pitches. In 28 appearances last season, he was 2-0 with an 0.65 earned-run average and 39 strikeouts in 27⅔ innings after signing a two-year, minor league contract in July 2022.

Stewart started this season with 12⅓ scoreless innings before the shoulder knocked him out. He made three appearances after being activated on July 24, and opponents hit .539 with a 1.532 OPS in 2⅓ innings.

Asked if he thinks he’ll be back again this season, Stewart said, “I mean, I’m hoping I can get back next week, obviously. I don’t want to not be available.”

This time, the injury is in the same general location, the right shoulder.

Stewart said he didn’t feel it until he already had thrown about 15 pitches, and then only on breaking balls.

“Only the cutters and sweepers when I really had to finish with my hand out in front and on top of the baseball,” he explained. “That’s when I noticed it. It wasn’t like an intense pain, but I know inherently as a pitcher that you’re not supposed to feel what I felt.”

The Twins immediately replaced Stewart on the active roster with Trevor Richards, acquired in a deadline trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for minor-league infielder Jay Harry.

Matt’s hard lemonade

How many major league batters are hitting the ball harder than Matt Wallner? Darn few. On average, in fact, only one.

Wallner entered Friday’s game with only 69 official at-bats in 28 games, so he doesn’t qualify to be an official league-leader in anything. But in his small sample size, the outfielder from Forest Lake is hitting the ball harder, on average, than nearly anyone.

That includes Shohei Ohtani, Giancarlo Stanton and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Wallner’s average exit velocity of 95.9 mph, in 34 of what MLB’s Statcast calls “batted-ball events,” ranks second to only Aaron Judge’s average exit velocity of 96.0. That’s in 235 more BBE, of course, but the fact remains: Wallner hits the ball hard. His 116.8 mph max velocity this season ranks ninth in the majors.

And speed matters, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli noted. As a minor leaguer in Bakersfield, Calif., in 2002 — well before exit velocity was a thing — he had a future MVP teammate in Josh Hamilton.

“On top of all the other things he could do, he just got hits,” Baldelli recalled. “He could chop a ball up the middle and — bing, bing, bing, like a pinball — it’s up the middle and they are diving after it. I’m like, ‘Everything this guy hits is a hit.’ I’m kind of jealous … As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized it was not luck. He was hitting the ball harder than everyone else on the field — by a lot. Even when he’s hitting the ball on the ground, you end up seeing more production.”

Wallner, Baldelli noted, “Hits the ball hard like that, and I think we’re seeing a lot of good things like that.”

Wallner entered Friday’s game hitting .364 with five homers and nine RBIs in 15 games since being recalled from Class AAA St. Paul on July 2.

Busted

The Twins brought first-round draft pick Kaelen Culpepper to Target Field on Friday before sending him to the training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. He took some swings in the cage before the game, and broke one of Carlos Correa’s bats.

I didn’t bring anything, any gear to swing with,” said Culpepper, a shortstop from Kansas State. “I think the first bat they brought out was a Louisville Slugger that Royce Lewis swung. I was looking for a bigger barrel with some grip on it.

“They brought out Correa’s bright pink bat. I was swinging good with it. Then the second swing, it just snapped. I was like, ‘Oh.’ Now, I’m here and I’m in debt to Correa.”

Briefly

The Twins had no medical update on Correa, on the 10-day IL with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is out of his walking boot and took swings and played catch on Friday. He hasn’t played since July 12.

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South St. Paul police looking for missing 31-year-old

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South St. Paul police are asking for the public’s help in locating a 31-year-old man last seen on Wednesday.

The South St. Paul Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in locating Adam Joseph Wallin, age 31. On July 31, around 10 p.m., he left his residence on foot in the area of the 1100 block of Bryant Avenue and has not returned. Wallin does not have his medications with him. It is unknown what he was last wearing. He does not have a cellphone or vehicle with him. (South St. Paul Police)

Police say Adam Joseph Wallin was last seen about 10 p.m. when he left his house on foot near the 1100 block of Bryant Avenue. He does not have his medication, cellphone or vehicle with him.

Police ask anyone who has seen Wallin or knows his whereabouts to call either 911 or the Dakota County Communications Center at 651-322-2323.

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Vikings star tight end T.J. Hockenson still ahead of schedule in recovery process

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Just watch Vikings star tight end T.J. Hockenson sprint around at training camp. He looks fantastic. Almost like he could put the pads on and make a difference right now.

Even head coach Kevin O’Connell has taken notice of Hockenson’s noticeable progression as he works his way back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament .

“Yeah,” O’Connell said with a laugh while setting up the punchline. “Every time I see him working on the side field, it becomes awfully tempting to corner (vice president of player health and performance) Tyler Williams somewhere in the building and demand answers on when we’ll be able to start implementing him.”

That’s never actually going to happen because O’Connell understands how important Hockenson is to the future of the franchise. After getting injured on Christmas Eve during a game between the Vikings and the Detroit Lions, Hockenson has been steadily trending in the right direction.

“He’s very well ahead of maybe where some of the medical folks thought he would be,” O’Connell said. “A timeline exists, and we’re going to try to stay true to that while also giving him opportunities to push to maybe shrink that timeline a little bit.”

In other words, as tempting as it might be to rush the recovery process, O’Connell doesn’t want to put any pressure on Hockenson.

“I want him focusing on what he can control,” O’Connell said. “He has done an unbelievable job so far.”

In the meantime, Hockenson will continue to work off to the side during training camp, looking more and more like himself every time he steps onto the field.

Griffin still not practicing

It shouldn’t be much longer for veteran cornerback Shaq Griffin. That said, Griffin still has not practiced since suffering a leg injury early in training camp.

“He’s definitely progressing,” O’Connell said. “I know Shaq is doing everything he can and was off to a really good start doing a lot of the things.”

There have been a number of players added to the secondary over the past week, including veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau, who has already been working with the first-team defense. It will be interesting to see if Griffin steps back into a starting role once he’s available.

“He’s dialed in and engaged in meetings and walkthroughs,” O’Connell said. “That leads me to believe he’ll be OK.”

Tonyan avoids serious injury

After being carted off the field earlier this week, veteran tight end Robert Tonyan has avoided a serious injury.

That’s good news for the Vikings given how well he has performed so far.

Though it looked grim when it happened, O’Connell confirmed that Tonyan was suffering from back spasms. He will go through the recovery process on his own with the goal of being able to return at some point later this month during the slate of exhibition games.

“He’s going to be working through a lower back thing,” O’Connell said. “We hope to get him back soon.”

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Vadnais Heights soccer charity found in violation of state laws, according to state attorney general

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The state Attorney General’s office announced Friday that the youth soccer charity All In Minnesota in Vadnais Heights had violated several state laws and will dissolve under a settlement.

“Irresponsible financial management and conflicted transactions of the kind we saw at All In Minnesota are extremely disappointing and risk eroding public trust in the important work done by nonprofits,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison, in a statement.

All in Minnesota was founded in 2017 by the organization’s former president, Mark Bigelbach, to help soccer players on the Minnesota Eclipse youth soccer team. After a complaint was filed, the attorney general’s office began to investigate the nonprofit charity.

In the settlement, Ellison said that the charity’s board “failed to adequately supervise the business and affairs of the organization, resulting in violations of Minnesota charities laws.”

The tax-exempt charity provided help for soccer players on the Minnesota Eclipse youth soccer team from 2017 to 2022. During that time only one board meeting was held, Ellison said.

In addition, the charity “failed to appoint a treasurer, maintain adequate books and records, or create policies and procedures to protect charitable assets as required by Minnesota law,” according to Ellison’s office.

The nonprofit also entered into conflicted transactions with Bigelbach, Ellison said, and entities founded by him, including his for-profit sports facility management company.

Ellison said the group failed to register with the attorney general’s office and in 2022, it ended charitable activities without formally dissolving.

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