Name: Jake Odorizzi, Luis Arraez progressing as playoffs draw near
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Jake Odorizzi, Luis Arraez progressing as playoffs draw near

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GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.XBy | | St. Paul Pioneer PressThe Twins headed into their final weekend of play without two important contributors.&nbsp;But if all goes well, they’re hoping to have starter Jake Odorizzi and second baseman Luis Arraez back soon.The Twins will play in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.Odorizzi, who left his Sept. 16 last start with a blister, was eligible to return later this weekend but the Twins are opting to let him use that time to continue to heal. Michael Pineda will start on Saturday and Rich Hill on Sunday against the Reds.“I think with Jake’s chance to give us some innings in the playoffs, we don’t want to use him too much,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.Baldelli said he believed Odorizzi had begun throwing off the mound and that the right-hander was feeling good. This is Odorizzi’s third stint on the injured list this year for three unrelated ailments. He has made&nbsp;only made four starts.“The last thing we want to do is not do anything until next week and then we throw him and he hasn’t really had the opportunity to build that finger up at all and the skin around it,” Baldelli said.The manager said Arraez also doing well, and that they would use Friday to let him run on the field before batting practice. Arraez was placed on the injured list with left knee tendinitis, then sprained his left ankle during an intrasquad game at the Twins’ alternate site last Sunday.“I don’t think his ankle is 100 percent at this point, but we’re still evaluating him and I think today will be a good day to figure out a little bit more about him,” Baldelli said.ROSTER MOVE&nbsp;The Twins designated starter Homer Bailey for assignment on Friday. Inked to a one-year deal this offseason, he made only two starts because of a biceps injury.With an already-full starting rotation, the Twins opted to add Edwar Colina to the 40-man roster and DFA Bailey.&nbsp;Colina, 23, will take Bailey’s spot on the 40-man roster but the Twins will not be able to add another player to the 40-man player pool, which started quarantining at a Minneapolis hotel on Tuesday.“It’s hard to explain how I feel right now. (It’s) something that I’ve been waiting for in my career,” Colina, who he said was surprised by news of his call up, said. “I just don’t have any words to explain how I feel right now.”The Twins’ No. 16 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Colina was throwing at the team’s alternate site in St. Paul after a bout of COVID-19 delayed his start to the season. He has hit triple digits with his fastball and uses his slider often as his go-to pitch.“He’s a very exciting young arm, the kind of guy that has the stuff that potentially can be dominant in a shorter-stint type of role,” Baldelli said. “We have an excellent group in our bullpen. We probably have these innings covered for a period of time, but you want to use all your bullets and he’s certainly a guy who can miss a ton of bats and has great stuff.”FAMILY REUNIONTwins bench coach Mike Bell knows that more of his family members will probably be rooting for the Reds this weekend than the Twins. He’s not taking it personally.After all, there’s more on the line for Cincinnati, which is fighting for a playoff spot.&nbsp;Bell’s older brother, David, manages the Reds and their father, Buddy, is a Reds vice president and advisor to the president of baseball operations, Dick Williams.“My dad’s a Tier 2 employee with the Reds, so I’m sure he’s pulling for the Reds, although he never wants to see anything bad to one of his kids, or something negative,” Bell said. “My youngest sister just turned 35 the other day. She has Down Syndrome and all she wanted for her birthday was a Reds’ win, so she’s an extremely loyal Reds fan.“She’s pulling for the Reds but she keeps telling my mom that she does love me, too.”Buddy Bell, as a Tier 2 employee, could have made the trip to Minneapolis but opted to stay home. Mike Bell said his father would spend the weekend watching the series from Ohio while also getting a chance to see Mike’s son Luke pitch at Xavier University.Both Buddy, a former manager himself, and David have been particularly helpful for Mike as he has settled into his new role on the bench. Prior to being hired as Baldelli’s bench coach, Bell had most recently been serving as the Diamondbacks’ farm director.The Bell brothers have been talking more as of late as they’ve gotten excited for the weekend series, Mike said.“I’d have preferred if it had been the first series of the year and not the last series when it’s really important games for both clubs,” Bell said. “We’ll enjoy it. Getting to be on the same Major League field as my brother, not a lot of people can say they’ve done that before. I know I’ll cherish it.”Sign up for Newsletters and AlertsClose

GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.XBy | | St. Paul Pioneer PressThe Twins headed into their final weekend of play without two important contributors.&nbsp;But if all goes well, they’re hoping to have starter Jake Odorizzi and second baseman Luis Arraez back soon.The Twins will play in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.Odorizzi, who left his Sept. 16 last start with a blister, was eligible to return later this weekend but the Twins are opting to let him use that time to continue to heal. Michael Pineda will start on Saturday and Rich Hill...

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Betsy Helfand

Twin Cities news, sports, politics, entertainment and business from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota's first newspaper.

Jake Odorizzi, Luis Arraez progressing as playoffs draw near

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