Chris Paddack progressing in recovery from elbow surgery

Dec 01, 2023

Do-Hyoung Park

This story was excerpted from Do-Hyoung Park's Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The long stretches of rehab in Fort Myers, Fla., for Twins right-hander Chris Paddack have only been broken up by his weekly camping trips up to Lake Okeechobee with his dog, Ace, a border collie. He gets Sundays off, so he drives up after he finishes his training on Saturdays, hauling the boat that his brother, Michael, drove over to him from Texas.

There's lots of idle time in a Tommy John recovery, and Paddack is separated from the rest of the Twins as he goes through this journey -- again -- by himself. So, he takes that time to float on the lake, catch some fish and just detach.

"Getting Western with it," Paddack said. "Tent in 90-degree weather is probably not for everybody, but not a worry in the world."

Paddack enjoys that time, but he preferred the scenery this week, when he drove to St. Petersburg to join the Twins for a series while he celebrated the most recent milestone in his recovery -- the start of his bullpen sessions. He threw his first one last week in Fort Myers, and he threw another at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, beginning a three-month buildup that he still firmly hopes will have him pitching in Minneapolis in early to mid-September.

"We still have a lot to accomplish before then," Paddack said. "All that's going to depend on if I'm coming out of the bullpen or if I'm going to start. Just keeping my head where it's been -- I've been feeling it every day, having success with myself, competing with myself, just finding different ways to keep grinding and be back with these guys in the next couple of months."

It is easier for Paddack to keep that perspective this time around, because it's not his first time. He has learned from his first Tommy John recovery back when he was still a top Padres prospect in 2016, and he knows how to deal with the frustration of the endless weeks -- namely, taking it out on his work and in the weight room instead of taking it home with him.

"I would say the biggest thing is what I learned from my first go-around, you've just got to be really patient the next three months," Paddack said. "Obviously, getting back on the mound, me being a competitor, wanting to compete with myself, I've got to be able to control my emotions."

Paddack also has the added perspective of being a mentor now in drawing on his experiences. He has bonded with 23-year-old prospect Logan Campbell, an undrafted signing from Division II University of Charleston, who now lives with Paddack after having undergone his own Tommy John surgery. They both enjoy the outdoors, and it helps Paddack to be able to share his experiences and help a younger player through a tough part of his life.

He gives the Twins credit, too, for continuing to make him feel involved in their happenings from afar -- though it definitely felt different for him to actually see them in person again, with a corner locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Tropicana Field, there to socialize with the teammates with whom he hopes to impact a divisional race at the end of the regular season.

"That goes a long way whenever you're stuck in Fort Myers, 1,000 miles away from Minneapolis," Paddack said. "It's just the small stuff like that lets you know I just signed a contract, but I'm not washed up. They still reach out. We still have FaceTime calls, Zoom calls. That goes a long way for me personally, knowing I'm still part of the 26 guys."

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If all goes according to plan, he hopes to be part of the 26 guys for real at some point before the season draws to a close.