Twins activate Cole Sands (forearm) from 15-day IL

Sands is out for the season after settling on arthroscopic elbow surgery, so this is a procedural move to clear a 40-man roster spot for trade acquisition A.J. Minter.

This seemed like a likely outcome after Sands returned from a forearm strain only to immediately return to the injured list with an elbow strain. According to Hayes, “Sands said the procedure will remove loose bodies and bone spurs in his right elbow, and he’ll receive a platelet-rich plasma injection.” We’ll have a clearer timeline for his return after the surgery.

It’s a tough break for Sands, who was activated off the injured list on July 26th after missing over two months with a forearm strain. Sands made one appearance, allowing five runs on three hits in 1/3 of an inning before landing on the injured list with another injury, which seems very likely to be related to that first injury he may have never fully healed from.

Sands made a pair of rehab appearances for Triple-A St. Paul within the last week before heading down to Florida to continue facing hitters in the lone minor-league affiliate still playing during the All-Star break. The 28-year-old is working his way back from a forearm strain that put him on the shelf back in early May. He should be ready to return to Minnesota before the end of July.

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.