Twins’ Cole Sands called up for first time, awaiting debut
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Despite it being perhaps the closest major league ballpark to his house growing up in Tallahassee, Fla., Cole Sands had only made the journey south to Tropicana Field to watch the Rays just once, when he was around 8 years old.
Until Saturday, that is.
Sands, the Twins’ No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline, had his major league dreams realized on Friday when the pitcher was pulled in for a meeting with Triple-A manager Toby Gardenhire. A day later, he was in St. Petersburg, Fla., officially a member of the Twins, taking the roster spot of starter Bailey Ober, whom the Twins placed on the injured list on Saturday with a right groin strain.
“You work your whole lifetime for this, and hopefully everything goes well,” Sands said. “It’s just crazy to even think you can make it this far sometimes. So yeah, I remember as a kid just hoping to play in college. Next thing you know, I’m in college and want to play professionally. Next thing you know, I’m a big leaguer. (It’s) pretty cool, pretty exciting.”
Sands said his girlfriend was originally supposed to fly to the Twin Cities on Saturday. Instead, she changed her flight to make it to Tampa Bay. His parents, grandparents, brother and his girlfriend all made the drive down from Tallahassee, a little over four hours, to support him.
Sands, who has a 2.93 career earned-run average across three minor league seasons, had a 7.82 ERA this season in St. Paul in four games — three starts — before the promotion. Sands has yet to debut, watching the Twins beat the Rays 9-1 on Saturday from the bullpen.
“He checks a lot of the traditional boxes that get you excited,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I mean he’s a big strong guy with some real arm strength and can spin the ball and can really find the strike zone and can pinpoint what he’s doing.”
The Twins plan to utilize him out of the bullpen with Josh Winder, their long reliever to begin the season, slotting into the rotation in Ober’s spot for the time being. Winder is slated to make his first major league start on Sunday with the Twins pushing back the rest of their starters one day.
OBER UPDATE
Though the Twins placed Ober on the injured list on Saturday, the starter said he feels as if he’s getting better every day.
Ober first felt a grab during his start on Thursday. He felt the same sensation on the next pitch, prompting him to wince. Next thing he knew, Baldelli and a trainer were on their way out to check on him.
“It’s just something that we don’t want to snowball, basically, so we’re just trying to take care of it and knock it out of the way right now so I can get healthy and help this team win again,” Ober said.
Baldelli called it a “minor muscle injury,” that “feels like a two-week type thing.”
“Could it be longer than that? Of course it could. Could he be saying he’s ready to go at 10, 11, 12 days? For sure,” Baldelli said. “I think those any of those are legitimately possible right now. It doesn’t feel like anything very serious at this point, but enough that it was going to keep him out for at least one outing, if not a couple.”
BRIEFLY
Byron Buxton was a late scratch from Saturday’s lineup with a hand contusion from when he was hit by a pitch a day earlier. Baldelli said Buxton’s hand was a “little swollen and sore.” … Miguel Sanó (knee) was back in the lineup on Saturday after missing three games with knee soreness, but he was pulled early after Baldelli said the pain returned while Sanó was doing a few different things in Saturday’s game.
