Twins closer Glen Perkins went through a bullpen session of 50-plus pitches Tuesday morning. There was no problem with the previous irritation on his right side, and he went from the mound to an adjacent field for pitchers' fielding drills.
Perkins has not pitched in a game since the unofficial exhibition opener against the Gophers on March 4. The Twins had him written in to pitch Thursday (probably in a minor league game), barring no occurrence of the issue with his right side Tuesday.
There was none.
Early in the bullpen session, Perkins issued an unhappy, one-word review of the command he had of his pitches. That changed after 15-20 pitches and catcher Kurt Suzuki offered a "That's good, Perk'' after Perkins popped his mitt a couple of times. Late in the session, Suzuki added an adjective to that affirmation aimed at Perkins.
"Those are cutting … geez,'' Perkins said.
Asked later if those pitches with movement were sliders, Suzuki said: "Fastballs. Perk was good this morning … real good.''.
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