If Chris Paddack had his way, he would successfully rehab from the forearm muscle strain that has sidelined him since July 15 and slot back into the Twins rotation for the final postseason push.

“I haven’t got to experience a starter role in a playoff atmosphere with fans,” Paddack said Sunday.

Paddack has started in a game in the playoffs — for San Diego in 2020, but that was MLB’s COVID season — a forgettable start (six runs on eight hits in 2⅓ innings) with no fans in the stands. “It was cardboard cutouts,” he said.

Last year, Paddack returned from injury to pitch two scoreless innings against the Astros in the AL Division Series, allowing one hit and striking out six in 3⅔ innings. “Probably the most dominant couple innings of my career,” he said.

Paddack just hopes to pitch meaningful games this season, whether it’s as a starter or reliever, for a Twins team that started Sunday 2½ games behind first-place Cleveland in the American League Central and a game up on Kansas City for the third wild card spot.

Neither he nor the Twins know what the big right-hander will do if he’s able to return this season.

“He certainly could be a bullpen guy, but I would assume nothing,” manager Rocco Baldelli said before Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Cleveland at Target Field. “It’s yet to be determined, is what it is. More than anything, we need to get Paddy strong and healthy and that’s it. That’s going to be our first focus.”

Paddack, 28, is on the injured list because of pain and fluid buildup in his forearm, but relieved it wasn’t another elbow injury. He already has had the ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm replaced twice. After a three-week layoff, he has played some catch, and on Saturday threw a football. He was scheduled to do some sock drills on Sunday.

It’s a slow process that he hopes will build up the arm enough to pitch at least a few innings in a major league game and, he said, he won’t jeopardize his career — he’s sign through 2025 — to get back this season.

“I feel a hundred percent after taking that time off, but how does that forearm/flexor/pronator respond to testing it a little bit?” he said. “We want to make sure this doesn’t pop up towards the end of our progression and have another setback and it takes me out of position to be able to contribute. That’s the last thing we want.

“Middle of September, end of September, playoffs? I don’t have that date, but this team, this organization knows I’m going to do everything I can to be back — but without cutting any corners.”

The letter of the day is ‘W’

The Twins symbolically retired the letter ‘W’ in honor of the Washington Senators, who moved to Minnesota before the 1961 season. The announcement was made before Sunday’s game in a ceremony honoring the Senators’ 1924 World Series victory.

Twins owner and executive chair Joe Pohlad said the ‘W,’ now on a plaque with the Twins’ 10 retired numbers in left-field foul territory, “is a reminder of our legacy as a charter member of the American League.”

As part of the celebration, the Hall of Fame plaque of former Senators great Walter Johnson was on display at Target Field, where fans could take photos with it. It marked the first time the plaque had left Cooperstown since 1939.

Briefly

Pablo Lopez is scheduled to start the first of a three-game set against Kansas City on Monday at Target Field. After that, it’s TBA and TBA as the Twins scramble to fill the void left by Joe Ryan, on the injured list with a Grade 2 strain in his right shoulder. “We have some things that we need to line up,” Badelli said. … Left-hander Steven Okert returned from the bereavement list on Sunday but was not activated for Sunday’s game.

In many ways, Joe Ryan is feeling as good as he ever has in mid-August.

Which is why it came as such a shock to the Twins starter when an MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain in the teres major in his right shoulder — an injury manager Rocco Baldelli said Friday is expected to keep him out “weeks to months.”

Ryan took himself out of his start against the Cubs on Wednesday in the second inning and was officially placed on the 15-day injured list Friday.

“The biggest frustration of it has to be feeling as good as I do right now everywhere else in relation to past seasons,” Ryan said before his team’s matchup with Cleveland on Saturday night at Target Field. “I feel as fresh as I’ve been mentally and physically. Everything feels good, so I think that’s the hardest part to deal with.”

Ryan, who is 7-7 with a 3.60 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 23 starts this season, will now be sidelined as the Twins begin the season’s key stretch.

“It’s definitely hard to digest right now,” said Ryan, whose team entered Saturday night a game-and-a-half back of Cleveland for first place in the American League Central after sweeping the Guardians in a doubleheader Friday.

“It’s been awesome watching the guys have so much success (Friday). I’m just going to try and be here with the team, be involved and probably spend a little more time in the dugout being here and being around it.

“It’s just weird timing when it comes to the year. You’re excited — thinking about so many things for the rest of the season. Then, all of a sudden, it’s like wait, you have to do some other things now.”

But while the injury is frustrating, Ryan doesn’t believe it’s something that will affect him long-term.

“The region that it’s in is probably the best-case scenario,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be something that’s going to linger or be an issue going forward.

“It’s just going to take a bit to recover.”

On Friday, Baldelli wouldn’t say Ryan’s season is over, and the pitcher himself is holding out hope he might be able to return for a potential postseason run.

“Last year was the most fun I’ve had on a baseball field for a long, long time,” said Ryan of the Twins’ ending an 18-game postseason losing streak and sweeping the Wild Card series against Toronto in 2023. “Hopefully, I don’t have to miss that part of it.

“But if I do, I’ll still be right here cheering everyone on.”

Blewett back in the bigs

Ryan’s spot on the roster is being filled by right-hander Scott Blewett, whose contract the team selected from Triple-A St. Paul Friday.

Blewett went 5-2 with a 3.66 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 36 games (three starts) for the Saints this summer. The former second-round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals last appeared in a major league game on Sept. 19, 2021.

Minor league stints in the Chicago White Sox (2022) and Atlanta Braves (2023) organizations followed, as well as a stretch with the Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan beginning in August of last year.

He signed a minor-league contract with the Twins in January.

“There were moments when it felt so far away,” he said of a return to the majors. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity here this year. I was able to throw the ball pretty well in Triple-A. Now I have this chance.”

Blewett considered walking away from the game as he approached his 26th birthday in 2022. He’d said he’d gotten his real estate license in Arizona and was considering working in that field.

“After the lockout (which ended in March of 2022), I didn’t even know if I’d have a job (in baseball),” he said. “I set a deadline for myself with my birthday coming up. My birthday was on April 10, and the White Sox signed me to a minor-league deal at 5 p.m. on April 9.”

Baldelli said Saturday that he expects Blewett to lend a hand in whatever role is needed.

“He’s a big, strong guy with a really good arm,” Baldelli said. “He did some good things for us in St. Paul. He’s going to be called up here to help us in any way, shape or form that we need him to.

“His job right now is to lock in on the way that we function here in the clubhouse preparation-wise so that when he steps on the mound, he’s ready to go. I’m sure he will be. He’s been around the game a long time.”

Ryan, Stelmaszek inducted into Twins HOF

Former general manager Terry Ryan and former coach Rick Stelmaszek became the 39th and 40th members of the Twins Hall of Fame when they were inducted in a ceremony prior to Saturday night’s game.

After being selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Khyree Jackson was expected to fill a key role for the Vikings on defense this season. He never got a chance.Tragically, Jackson died in a car accident on July 6 in his hometown of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

In the aftermath of Jackson’s death, the Vikings have made various efforts to keep his memory alive. His number will go unused  this season as will the locker he occupied at TCO Performance Center. Additionally, the Vikings will wear helmet decals with his initials.

As a way to further honor Jackson, the Vikings invited members of his family to attend Saturday’s preseason game between the Vikings and the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. It was a touching scene as Jackson’s mother Ebbony, father Raymond, and brother Kolston served as the honorary captains.

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Amy Lindgren

Second Sunday Series – Editor’s Note: This is the last of 12 columns on making a career change which have appeared the second Sunday of each month, from September through August. Last month’s column discussed interviewing for a career-change position, while the months before focused on launching your job search; networking; getting experience in your new career; LinkedIn for career-changers; resume strategies; the back-to-school decision; career-change steps in your 60s; 10 ideas for choosing a new career; a sample timeline; and questions to consider when changing careers.

And here we are, in the twelfth of our 12-part series on changing careers. Although life doesn’t generally follow a process manual, it’s just possible that a person could have begun reading this series a year ago and now be in the position of starting work in a new career.

Imagining that person is you, congratulations! It’s quite an accomplishment to dream something up and then find yourself living that dream not long after. Now it’s time for the last set of instructions in the manual: Setting yourself up for success in your new career.

Following are five areas that will need your attention as you move forward.

1. Getting started. It’s easy to imagine that someone else will take charge of “onboarding” you – that’s the word for helping a new hire get acclimated in their position. The problem is that some companies don’t have an onboarding process, other than giving you a tour and introducing you to the team.

You’ve worked hard to get to this point, so now is not the time to let things slip. As part of your self-designed onboarding process, try to incorporate these steps:

— Come to work in person, if possible, even if the job can be done from home. You’ll acclimate faster by mingling with colleagues and asking for help in real time.

— Find a mentor, formal or informal. Having a guide is good for any new employee but especially so for career-changers.

— Be a joiner. By the end of six months, try to identify a committee or team to be part of. This will help you build connections while gaining incidental learning on the job.

2. Preparing for reviews. Depending on the organization, you may find that your first formal review is six or 12 months from your hire date. That’s too long to wait! Career-changers need early and frequent doses of feedback to confirm they’re on the right track.

Instead of relying on the default process, take this two-track approach: On track one, ask your supervisor to meet briefly for feedback on a weekly or monthly basis (depending on the situation) for the first quarter or two. Cutting back the frequency after that should be fine.

Then, on the second track, anticipate your formal review by writing down what you’ve been learning and doing. Be sure to note your successes, since it’s easy for early wins to get “over-written” as the job gets more intense.

3. Building new connections. In addition to joining internal committees or work teams, career-changers also benefit from building external contacts in their new vocation. By joining a professional association or monitoring a LinkedIn group, for example, you can gain a broader understanding of your field and keep up with developments that could strengthen your work performance.

4. Maintaining past connections. Starting a new job can be a very intense experience, making it easy to leave loose ends dangling from your job search process. One way to keep this from happening is to set a reminder for two months after your start date to re-connect with those who helped in your journey. That’s early enough for the news to still be fresh, but far enough into the new job that you can be specific about how things are going.

5. Moving forward. Remember that you didn’t go to all the effort of changing careers just to get stuck in a new rut someplace. Now’s the time to create a goal list for yourself, naming the milestones you want to reach in the next two or three years.

Then, commit those items to your calendar, with a backwards cascade of steps to ensure they get done. For example, if you want to learn a particular skill, you might need cross-training or an outside class – when can you start on that?

Good job, career-changer. Whether you’ve been taking steps to find your new path over the last year, or you plan to make that leap soon, there’s an exciting adventure ahead of you.

Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.