Twins’ Jorge López becomes fourth player to land on IL for mental-health related reasons

On any given day, you might find a Twins player in the clubhouse wearing one of the team’s “Powered by mental health,” T-shirts.

A list of phrases, both in English and Spanish, spoken by Twins minor leaguers fill the back of the shirt. Among them, “Everyone struggles,” “Reaching out shows strength, not weakness,” and “You are more than an athlete.”

“Obviously in our world, we talk a lot about … physical injuries, right? And ailments around the body around the body and who’s strong, who’s not strong, who’s healthy, who’s not healthy or their knee or their back,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said in February, the day the Twins debuted the shirt. “Mental health is just as important a function of performance in this room as all of those things.”

So it comes as no surprise that the Twins threw their full support behind reliever Jorge López, whom they placed on the injured list on Sunday for mental-health related reasons. López became the fourth player this year to land on the IL for mental health-related reasons, following Colorado’s Daniel Bard, Detroit’s Austin Meadows and Oakland’s Trevor May, a former Twin.

The Twins have a team of sports psychologists in place to help support their players, and Falvey stressed the importance in February of speaking more openly about a topic that for years has been stigmatized in professional sports environments.

“I think it’s definitely the right move for him, and I’m actually glad that he’s open to the idea of doing it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Baldelli said he does not anticipate there being any updates on the reliever and his status unless López chooses to give one himself.

The Twins acquired López, an all-star reliever last year with Baltimore, at the trade deadline. But things didn’t go so smoothly on the field post-trade and he often let his emotions show through on the field, at one point punching the ground after a loss in Chicago.

In February, after reporting to spring training following an offseason in which López said he “just kind of refreshed,” he mentioned that he was “going through a lot at the time,” when he arrived in Minnesota.

“There was a lot of stuff going on. I tried to be more positive instead of letting negative thoughts run through it,” he said in February. “It was huge.”

But after a strong start to the season during which he did not give up an earned run in the entire month of April, the 30-year-old, whom the Twins were expecting to be an important part of their high-leverage relief group, has endured a tough stretch on the field since the beginning of May.

López has given up 16 runs — 15 earned — in his past 15 innings. He has allowed 22 hits in that period of time, including six home runs, and opponents have hit .349 against him.

While the minimum stint on the IL for a pitcher is 15 days, there’s no telling how long López will be away from the mound. But one thing’s for sure: The Twins will give him all the time he needs.

“(It’s) something that we’re going to take advantage of right now and get him in the best possible place to come back,” Baldelli said.

Maeda return on horizon

After four rehab starts, it appears that Kenta Maeda, who was placed on the IL in April with a triceps strain, is finally nearing a return to the Twins.

As to when that will be, exactly, Baldelli isn’t yet ready to announce a day. But the manager did tell reporters Monday that he believed the veteran was “lined up and likely will pitch for us in the big leagues by the end of the week.”

Maeda’s last rehab start came on June 16, during which he threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up a run on two hits. He walked four and struck out four, his pitch count reaching 81.

“Everything felt really great. Pitch count went up to around 80,” he told reporters through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. “There was no inflammation or anything that was bothersome. So I think I was able to progress really well.”

As for what’s next? Maeda has something in mind.

“I guess the next step would be to get a win in the big leagues,” he said. “That would perfect everything.”

Briefly

Michael A. Taylor was out of the starting lineup as expected on Monday after getting hit in the head with a pitch a day earlier. But Baldelli said the outfielder continues to test out OK but that they would continue to assess him. “That was a lot scarier than maybe what we’re looking at right now as an outcome,” Baldelli said.