NEW YORK -- Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers is making significant strides towards an eventual return to the big league club.
Jeffers, out since mid-May with a broken hamate bone in his left hand, began a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Friday. He went 2-for-4 as the designated hitter while batting out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup in a 4-3 Saints victory.
All of Jeffers’ hits were hard-hit singles. He smacked a base hit to center field in his first at-bat that left the bat at 104.6 mph. Later, in his third at-bat of the night, he struck a single back up the middle with an exit velocity of 108.6 mph.
The Twins plan to manage Jeffers’ ramp-up carefully, largely following their catcher’s lead.
“We’ll go day-by-day depending on how he feels and where he’s at,” manager Derek Shelton said Friday before the Twins’ series opener with the Yankees.
The biggest challenge for Jeffers will be the percussion, or vibration, of the bat upon contact with the ball. Earlier this week, Jeffers took batting practice on three straight days for the first time since landing on the IL.
The wrist is not much of a concern when Jeffers receives pitches behind the plate. He caught four bullpen sessions earlier this week.
“The legs are going to be a different story, just in terms of making sure the legs get back into shape,” Shelton said. “There’s no way to be able to do that except for him catching, and he will do that in the coming days.”
The 29-year-old Jeffers was enjoying one of the best stretches of his career before hitting the IL. He owned a .295/.408/.541 slash line with seven home runs and a 162 OPS+ through 37 games. In fact, according to FanGraphs, Jeffers is still the Twins’ second-most valuable hitter. He has recorded 1.7 fWAR, which trails only the 2.9 fWAR belonging to center fielder Byron Buxton.
Jeffers last played on May 18, when he injured himself while fouling a ball off during his final at-bat of a 6-3 win over the Astros.