Reliever Matt Magill back with Twins from Rochester

The Twins already have tinkered with their relief corps several times since the start of the season. They've expanded the bullpen from 11 to 12 pitchers, then from 12 to 13. They've needed fresh arms. They've needed better arms.

And now they have summoned a healthy arm in righthander Matt Magill, who has recovered from shoulder tendinitis. Magill was activated from the 10-day injured list on Friday.

"Rehab went good. It went smooth," Magill said. "I took my time. They told me to take my time, and I went as slow as I possibly could without feeling like I was going to go insane. It went smooth, the guys that worked with me were great, and it was about as easy as it could go."

Magill was 3-3 with a 3.81 ERA for the Twins last season, pitching 56⅔ innings over 40 appearances. His fastball averaged 94.7 mph, and he mixed in a curveball and slider. He averaged nearly a strikeout an inning, at 8.9 per nine innings.

So he has the ability to help out in any role the Twins see for him. That falls right into how Rocco Baldelli is using his relievers in his first year as Twins manager. They've been told to be ready to pitch at any point of the game.

Magill pitched 5⅔ innings during spring training before coming down with shoulder problems. That was enough for Baldelli to conclude that he can help in close games.

"I thought he threw the ball well early on," Baldelli said. "I got a chance to see him a lot early in camp and he's the guy I think can impact us in a good way."

He used that time to sharpen his breaking ball and tinker with how he's used it, a couple of things he was working on during spring training before he was activated.

Now healthy and feeling good about his pitches, Magill is ready to help a team he was forced to monitor from afar.

"To watch the hitters and the way that they've exploded with their bats and to watch our bullpen, the way it's been constructed, it's just a fun bullpen to watch and a fun team to watch," Magill said. "I'm super excited to be a part of it. I think the Twins are ready to shock the world."

The Twins also announced on Friday that righthander Chase De Jong, one of five relievers the Twins have called up since the start of the season, has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Class AAA Rochester. The Twins suddenly have an open 40-man roster spot.

Minor league relievers like Mike Morin, who has thrown 9⅓ scoreless innings at Rochester, or Jake Reed, who has a 4.09 ERA, could be options if the Twins need to take a look at another arm.

The Twins on Friday held "An Evening with La Tortuga," as fans who purchased a special ticket received a "La Tortuga" T-shirt. Utility hacker Willians Astudillo, already a fan favorite, is nicknamed "La Tortuga," which is Spanish for "the turtle."

"Honestly, taking advantage of the moment, I wasn't expecting it," Astudillo said of the event. "I'm just trying to enjoy it."

The Twins played the theme song from the show "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" while showing a few Astudillo highlights. The Twins took the field — but Astudillo remained on the bench.

Astudillo didn't start, but he hit a single in the eighth inning, pinch-hitting for C.J. Cron.