SAN DIEGO -- For someone who has been recovering from season-ending elbow surgery, it’s been an eventful season for Pablo López, one full of interesting and impressive side quests. On Friday, though, López took a pivotal step forward in his return to doing what he does best.
Ahead of the Twins’ 6-2 loss to the Padres at Petco Park, López played catch for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in February. With manager Derek Shelton carefully observing, López worked from roughly 30-45 feet during a brief session.
It’s an important first step in what will be a lengthy rehab process as the 30-year-old hopes to make a full recovery in time for the start of 2027. He couldn’t have been happier with how he felt afterward.
“It felt good, and what a place to do it, San Diego is perfect,” López said. “It was nerve wracking. I felt like I was warming up to throw a postseason game, because they let me do my normal pre-throw routine, which I had to figure out on the spot. I was trying to remember. So I went through some muscle memory, transitioned from one station to the other. But once I got out there, I was able to just feel the arm path. From such a short distance, 30-45 feet, there’s not going to be a lot of air under the ball. It’s really just getting into a good rhythm, feeling your tempo.”
The next steps are for López to build volume and distance into his catch play routine before progressing further. The current timetable for those steps is unclear at the moment. Regardless, Shelton was equally pleased with how things went on Friday.
“It’s a large step,” he said. “His arm was moving forward and there was a baseball that came out of it. Even though it was only 30 feet and 45 feet, I think it was very encouraging. He left with a smile, I think I left with a smile.”
After having a live bullpen session cut short during the Twins’ first full-squad workout of Spring Training due to right elbow soreness in February, López underwent an MRI that revealed significant tearing of his ulnar collateral ligament. He received a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, who recommended surgery and ultimately performed the procedure in late February.
López was given the all clear to play catch following a recent follow up with Meister in Texas.
“It’s the biggest green light that you’re looking for,” López said. “I could check all the boxes, I could feel good every step of the way, but not until you hear the doctor saying, ‘It’s healed,’ you don’t get that full green light. That was all the affirmation I needed to make sure that I went into today [knowing] I was just going to be able to go out there, feel normal with my routine, and then, obviously, take it easy.
“I just wanted to have good rhythm, and whatever came out of my hand today, is what it is, but I’m very happy with how it went.”
This marks the second time in López’s career he’s recovering from Tommy John (he previously underwent the procedure in 2014 as a member of the Mariners organization). To say López has made the most of his downtime this time around would be an understatement.
Among other things, the right-hander has made appearances on the Twins TV and radio broadcasts, including segments on the pre- and postgame show, charted pitches from the dugout and served as the interpreter for media interviews. He even took photos that were posted by the Twins on social media when the team was in Iowa for the Field of Dreams Game on Aug. 13.
He’s done these things -- and many others -- while accompanying the Twins on the road throughout the campaign, a rarity among players who are recovering from season-ending injuries.
“Doing all those little side quests has been really fulfilling,” López said.
As great as López’s many endeavors this season have been, he and the Twins are glad to see him getting back to his day job.
“For as good a human being as he is,” Shelton said, “to be able to start crossing hurdles to get back to doing what he should be doing instead of broadcasting games or translating -- or whatever else he’s doing -- I’m just really excited we’re going to get to watch him do what we actually pay him to do.”