This is one case in which the Twins got what they hoped for.
When Mitch Garver suffered an high ankle sprain on May 14, they believed it wasn't serious. They believed that Garver being in game shape would aid in a speedy recovery. They believed that he would return in two to three weeks.
On Sunday, Garver was activated from the injured list having missed 16 games - right in the sweet spot the Twins thought his recovery would take. Garver played in three games for Class AA Pensacola last week, catching nine innings on Friday. Not only was he back in the clubhouse on Sunday, he was batting leadoff against Rays lefthander Ryan Yarbrough.
Garver went 1-for-4 and was hit in the hand by a pitch during his return.
"It's seemed like when the injury happened that it would take a lot longer than it actually did," Garver said. "I'm really happy with not only the work I put on the offseason but the work we do every day to be healthy it helps with recovery, it gets your body ready for trauma like this and I'm feeling good. I'm feeling way better than I thought I was going to feel two weeks ago."
He'll catch righthander Jake Odorizzi, who is shooting for his eighth win of the season, which would be more games than he won all of last season. The Twins, with a major league best 20-9 road record, are shooting to win the four-game series. And, with Nelson Cruz expected to be activated in the next couple of days, they could motor into Cleveland packing their best punchers.
The Twins optioned righthander Zack Littell to Class AAA Rochester to make room for Garver.
Speaking of Cleveland, here are the matchups for the series at Progressive Field:
