Kepler hopes to play at least five more years, he said, but admittedly has considered that his hip injury could end his career with the Twins.
“I haven’t really relaxed and looked back on every moment as a Twin yet, but I’m really grateful and that doesn’t really bother me on my way out,” he said. “Obviously I want to leave feeling better, but when you add in the years in the minor leagues, 15 years of my life – half of my life as a Twin – I don’t think I could have done much more as a kid from Berlin.”
Chris Paddack Simulated pitching from the bullpen on Monday at Target Field. Sitting in the bullpen, running onto the field and taking the ball with just over a minute to warm up on the mound.
After the duel with the batsmen Kepler, Michael Helman And Austin Martin – for the first time since being placed on the injured list in July, he plans to throw again on Thursday.
“Hopefully everything will go well, then I will probably Rocco (Baldelli) and our personnel to see where we are in the standings,” Paddack said. “If we’re in, we get the win (during) the Baltimore series, then we’ll probably wait until the first series in the playoffs. If we’re down a game (or if it’s tied and we need to win on Sunday, all arms will probably be on deck and they’ll make that decision when the time comes.”
