Kirilloff promoted to Twins; bothersome wrist is ‘feeling great’
PHOENIX – Cortisone is no magic hitting drug, and it doesn't generate home run-hitting superpowers.
But that's not to say that the anti-inflammatory has nothing to do with Alex Kirilloff's .725 slugging percentage at St. Paul over the past month, or the .477 on-base percentage, either. Or for that matter, for his return to the major leagues on Friday, a surprise roster move hastened by Jorge Polanco's sore back.
"It feels good to feel good," the Twins' top hitting prospect sloganized about his bothersome right wrist, which he repeatedly described as "feeling great" since the cortisone shot he received in mid-April took full effect. "I definitely would say that it's just nice to have things working mechanically better than what they were."
It's not just that the pain has gradually disappeared, he said — though it has. It's that, after months of living with pain, even after undergoing wrist surgery last summer, he had to train his brain not to worry about it coming back.
"The toughest part for me was being able to trust my hands. A lot of times I think about my hands when I'm hitting, and what I want to do with them," the 24-year-old former first-round pick said. "When I'm trying to do that and there is pain and discomfort involved, that was kind of the toughest part for me, to trust them as I was experiencing that."
Which is why, he said again, "I'm just really excited about where [his wrist] is at."
That wrist wasn't in the Twins' starting lineup on Friday, not with veteran lefthander Madison Bumgarner on the mound for the Diamondbacks. But Rocco Baldelli said the Twins are eager to see Kirilloff demonstrate that he's regained the elite hitting ability that had him projected as the Twins' starting left fielder during spring training. Be the guy who has already hit eight home runs in June, in other words.
"AK really took care of everything he needed to" at St. Paul, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We asked him to go and direct his energy towards getting at-bats and figuring out just how to attack different pitches. He's a great player. The numbers he put up were pretty noticeable. He's ready and he's going to help us win games."
And with Polanco out, he'll probably do it at first base more than the outfield. Luis Arraez has shifted back to second base in Polanco's absence.
"AK will play some corner outfield and probably some DH as well," Baldelli said. "That set-up is one we'll see a lot, but we won't hesitate to move guys around."
Kirilloff said he was aware that as his numbers piled up for the Saints, Twins fans were getting impatient for him to return to the majors. "But for me as a player, I can only control what I control, and that's going out and playing a baseball game almost every day of the season," he said. "Whether that's here or someone else, I just kind of keep that perspective in mind. Usually that helps."
And now his wrist is ready to help the Twins, thanks in part to the cortisone. The improvement is evident even from the way he was feeling two weeks ago, when he was on the team's taxi squad for a couple of days during a road trip to Detroit.
"It's about learning about what works and what helps to get ready, what I need to do to manage my swing during the game," Kirilloff said. "As far as symptoms, [the wrist] has come a long way."
