Pablo López will show up to the ballpark Friday and work through his usual pre-start routine.
He will play catch and throw long toss with a catcher before moving into the bullpen. He will sit down and take some sips of water until it’s time for him to run out to the Target Field mound and stare down a hitter in the batter’s box.
The only difference this time is López will do it four hours before Friday’s actual first pitch.
López is scheduled to throw two “innings” in a simulated game, a big step for a pitcher who hopes to rejoin the Twins’ rotation as early as the first week of September.
“Hopefully, whoever wants to hit, they go to swing the bat,” López said. “I don’t want statues up there. I don’t want someone to look like a candle. I want someone to actually swing the bat, so I can get the feedback and see how [pitches] are moving.”
López has been out since early June with a strained muscle in his right shoulder. The initial recovery timeline was 8-12 weeks, so he’s remained on schedule.
Despite the Twins falling well out of the playoff picture, along with a massive fire sale at the trade deadline that shipped off 10 major league players, it’s important for López’s offseason if he can return to pitch in a handful of big league games.
“The time allows me to squeeze in four or five, maybe six starts,” said López, who is in the second season of his four-year, $73.5 million contract extension. “Because time allows, I want to do it. Also, peace of mind. I want to be able to tell myself I was able to come back from this injury and pitch and perform at the level I know I can perform.”