CHICAGO — When the bullpen phone rang late in Tuesday night’s game, with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox locked in a close battle, Brock Stewart wasn’t quite expecting his name to be called.
But with the score tied 2-2, the Twins did indeed summon Stewart to pitch the ninth inning, a big show of faith for a veteran reliever who just a week ago hadn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2019.
“I literally told myself going out, ‘This is a sweet opportunity you have in front of you so you should come out there and attack,’ ” Stewart said.
His outing — his third scoreless appearance since joining the Twins — didn’t go exactly as he would have wanted: He walked three, one intentionally, but he managed to work his way out of the inning unscathed, getting the Twins to extra innings. Tuesday, he found himself in that situation in part because fellow relievers Jorge Lopez and Griffin Jax already had been used and Jhoan Duran was down for the day. But moving forward, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he expects the 31-year-old Stewart to see more big spots.
“Guys are always going to think about their roles and where they fit and where they’re probably pitching or not, but the less you think about that as a player, I think the better,” Baldelli said. “He’s going to pitch in some meaningful spots, and I think he knows that now.”
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It’s been a long journey for Stewart, who found himself out of affiliated ball entirely just a couple of years ago and then spent a couple years dealing with elbow injuries — first undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021 and then to address a bone spur.
Now healthy, he’s throwing harder than ever and the Twins have liked what they’ve seen from him. He was averaging 95.9 mph on his four-seam fastball heading into Wednesday. In limited major-league action in 2019, that number was at 91.7.
“When I became healthy and was starting to throw off the mound again, I saw some cool velo numbers, stuff was good, I literally had somebody take videos and then I texted several people in different organizations,” Stewart said. “One of those texts was straight to (Twins assistant general manager) Jeremy Zoll, with video and all that. He got back to me right away and was very responsive to the whole process.”
The Twins signed Stewart to a two-year minor-league deal and, now in the second year, that move seems to be paying off both for the team and the player.
“We’re going to use him,” Baldelli said. “He’s only been here a little while, but he’s earned the opportunity to go out there and pitch when it’s tight.”
Briefly
The Twins officially placed pitcher Tyler Mahle on the injured list Wednesday with a flexor pronator strain and a posterior impingement in his throwing elbow. The Twins have said that Mahle will be down for at least a month. Louie Varland, who started Wednesday’s game, replaced him on the roster. … Twins starter Sonny Gray finished April with a 0.77 earned-run average through his six starts (35 innings) but was not named the American League’s Pitcher of the Month. New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole took home the honors.
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