Cole Sands (forearm) continues rehab assignment

Sands has been on the injured list since the beginning of May. He posted a 4.63 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 11/4 K/B ratio across 11 2/3 innings over 12 appearances this season, but has been one of the more reliable arms in the Twins’ bullpen. He’ll likely throw another bullpen this week and may not need a rehab stint since he hasn’t been sidelined long.

No word yet regarding how long Sands will be sidelined. The 28-year-old reliever has recorded one save along with a serviceable 4.63 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 11/4 K/B ratio across 11 2/3 innings over 12 appearances. He hasn’t pitched in a couple days following an ugly outing against the Mariners earlier this week.

There were no hard-hit balls against Sands; a groundball single, a sac bunt and then an outfield flare were enough to produce the decisive run. This one shouldn’t alter his status in the closing mix in Minnesota. It especially doesn’t hurt because Justin Topa gave up a run in the seventh, and Eric Orze took a blown save by allowing a run in the eighth.

Of course he did. Cole Sands and Justin Topa had both pitched in each of the last two games, and this means that four different Twins relievers saved games against the Tigers in a four-game sweep. The closer committee has been established hard in Minnesota. Orze has a 1.69 ERA in his first five games for the Twins.

Richie Palacios hit a two-run homer as the first batter Topa faced today. Topa then went on to give up a single and a walk with one out, getting him pulled in favor of Taylor Rogers. Rogers allowed one of the inherited runners to score while walking two batters. All of this came after Cole Sands pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings in a tie game, so it was a particularly encouraging day for those rostering Sands in the hopes of getting some saves from a Twins reliever.

It was 2-0 when Cole Sands took over against the top of the Royals order in the eighth. He gave up a run on singles from Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. and a Vinnie Pasquantino sac fly before exiting with two outs. Taylor Rogers then struck out Joc Caglianone to end the inning. That seemed to set up Topa’s first save chance, but the Twins hit three homers in the top of the ninth to make it 5-1. It seemed the bottom of the ninth still might get interesting after Royce Lewis committed an error on a Jonathan India grounder and Isaac Collins walked to start the frame, but Lane Thomas grounded into a double play and Kyle Isbel struck out to end it. We’re guessing the Twins would have gone the other way here and used Topa in the eighth and Sands in the ninth if it weren’t all the Royals’ best hitters due up in the eighth. Still, it’s a fluid situation at the moment. We wouldn’t be excited about rostering any Twins relievers in a standard league, but Sands is probably the best bet for now.

Sands the call in the ninth inning to close out the game with a three-run lead. He worked around a walk, striking out two batters to secure the win and his first save of the season. Manager Derek Shelton has stated that save chances will be based on a meritocracy. If Sands can remain effective, he’ll remain in the mix for ninth-inning opportunities. Just don’t expect a consistent source of saves coming from the team this season.

Liam Hendriks had an opt-out in his contract and presumably informed the Twins that he would like to exercise that. The veteran allowed three runs on nine hits in seven innings this spring, while striking out five and walking five. His four-seam fastball averaged just 93.9 mph on Thursday against the Red Sox, and he gave up two hard-hit balls in one inning of work. With Hendriks no longer on the roster, the Twins could split the ninth inning between Cole Sands and Taylor Rogers, depending on the handedness of the hitters due up in the ninth.

None of the Twins’ bullpen candidates has had a good of a season in the last two years as Sands did in 2024, when he finished with an 85/12 K/BB in 71 1/3 innings. Last year, though, his strikeout rate dropped from 29% to 21%, and he wound up with a 4.50 ERA in 72 innings. He doesn’t seem like a very good bet at this point, but in a pen as weak as Minnesota’s, he has to be watched.

Sands picked up his third save of the season for his efforts. He was incredibly efficient in this one, needing just nine pitches (six strikes) to get Jake Burger on a foul out to the catcher, Adolis Garcia on a bouncer to second and Josh Jung on a fly ball to left field. For the season, he now holds a 4.63 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and a 63/19 K/BB ratio over 70 innings on the season.