MINNEAPOLIS -- Matt Magill has enjoyed watching the 2019 Twins hit their way to the top of the American League Central standings early this season, but he's eager to get in on the fun himself.
"They told me to take my time [in my recovery], and I went as slow as I possibly could without feeling like I was going to go insane," Magill said.
Magill's wait finally ended when he was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Friday. His return comes at a needed time, expanding the Twins' bullpen to eight arms for the first time this season as the team embarks on a stretch of 27 games in 27 days.
He was used immediately in Friday's game against the Orioles. He entered to start the eighth and got two outs while allowing a hit and walking two during the Twins' 6-1 victory.
Magill was sidelined with right shoulder tendinitis toward the end of Spring Training and completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester, where he recorded eight strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings across five appearances. He had a 3.81 ERA in 40 relief appearances for the Twins last season, with 56 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings.
"He has a good arm," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Everyone in here knows it. He's a guy that can impact us in some close games, and we're going to use him."
The Twins' coaching staff had continued to work with Magill during Spring Training on changing his pitch usage, and Magill also said that he has been working on the shaping of his curveball. Though his Grapefruit League numbers were shaky, Magill emerged from his rehab assignment confident that his approach has him on the path to success.
"I think it was really put to the test in Triple-A, and it showed that it worked," Magill said. "I'm bought in, I'm in full belief of what we're doing here, and I'm excited to work with our staff and our coaches, and it's been a good transition."
The 29-year-old Magill said that he arrived at Target Field ready to assume any role -- or lack thereof -- in Baldelli's fluid bullpen.
"I'm ready to go whenever Rocco needs me," Magill said. "We've already discussed what my role will be, and I told him, 'I want you to put me in wherever you need me to get guys out.' That's when I'm ready to go, and I don't care what inning that's in."
Chase De Jong was also outrighted off the 40-man roster on Friday and assigned to Rochester for the second time in 2019, leaving 39 players on the club's 40-man roster.
Twins fans treated to 'An Evening With La Tortuga'
Willians Astudillo says that he honestly has no idea whether word of his cult hero status in the Major Leagues has spread back to his home country of Venezuela.
"To be honest with you, friends, I have no idea if they know about it," Astudillo said. "I'm just here taking care of myself and doing everything I can do to take care of my family."
It might be more difficult to keep things under wraps with the full force of the Twins' marketing department behind Astudillo, as the Twins hosted "An Evening With La Tortuga" at Target Field for Friday night's series opener against the Orioles.
"Honestly, taking advantage of the moment," Astudillo said. "I wasn't expecting it, and I'm just enjoying it."
Fans who purchased a special ticket package received a gray "La Tortuga" T-shirt featuring Astudillo's number 64 on a turtle shell on the back and a picture of him running the bases on the front, superimposed on his claim from last season that "I just wanted to show that chubby people also run."
Sano continues rehab in extended camp games
Miguel Sanó homered in an extended camp game on Friday and played third base for five innings as he continues to ramp up for the season following his lengthy absence due to the laceration on his lower right Achilles area sustained during the offseason.
Sano was first scheduled to appear in an extended camp game on Tuesday, a week after he traveled to the Twins' Minor League complex in Fort Myers, Fla., on April 16 to begin an approximately 10-day strength and conditioning regimen.
"He was most looking forward to getting down to Florida, where you can feel like you're getting a workout when you step outside," Baldelli said. "With the heat and the humidity, he wanted to return to that and felt like that was a big step for him, and I think we agree. He's taken to it very well, and his workouts have gone very well."