Kepler hopes to play at least five more years, he said, but he has admittedly thought about his hip injury ending his Twins career.
“I haven’t really decompressed and looked back on every moment as a Twin but I’m truly grateful and this is not really bothering [me] too much on my way out,” he said. “Obviously, I want to go out on a higher note, but I mean add the minor league years into it, 15 years of my life — half my life as a Twin — I don’t think I could have done much more as a kid from Berlin.”
Chris Paddack simulated pitching out of the bullpen Monday at Target Field, sitting in the bullpen, running onto the field and taking the ball with a little more than a minute to warm up on the mound.
After facing hitters — Kepler, Michael Helman and Austin Martin — for the first time since he went on the injured list in July, he plans to throw again Thursday.
“Hopefully all that stuff goes well, then that’s probably when I’ll sit down with Rocco [Baldelli] and staff to see where we’re at with standings,” Paddack said. “If we’re in, we clinch [during] the Baltimore series, then we’ll probably wait until that first series in the playoffs. If we’re one game [back], or if it’s tied and we need a win on Sunday, it’s probably all arms are going to be on deck, and they’ll make that decision when the time comes.”