Twins put Ryan Jeffers on seven-day concussion injured list

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Three days after being smacked by foul balls off his mask, Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers still was feeling the effects Sunday.

“The first day when he came out of the game, there was some fogginess; he was just kind of out of it,” Twins head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said. “Some difficulty processing and just struggling to be his normal self,” symptoms that improved “but never went away completely.”

That’s enough evidence for the Twins to conclude that Jeffers suffered a concussion Thursday, so he was put on the seven-day concussion injured list Sunday.

“RJ wasn’t improving noticeably enough to keep him active. The decision became pretty clear,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Now we can give him the adequate time to get back.”

Mickey Gasper and Jhonny Pereda will do the catching in the interim.

“Catchers get hit a lot, all over their bodies, including in the noggin. Unless you’re the one dealing with it, it’s hard to really know exactly what each of those feels like,” Baldelli said. “We can think about it, but we don’t really know.”

Outfielder Carson McCusker was called up from Class AAA to fill Jeffers’ roster spot. It’s McCusker’s third stint with the Twins this season; he is 2-for-9 in six games so far but hit 25 homers for St. Paul.

“I’m looking forward to watching him pitch in shorter stints, not necessarily throwing 60 to 65 pitches,” Baldelli said. “We can send him out there for an inning or two and let him kind of unload, as opposed to having to take it inning by inning and knowing that he has to give you a whole bunch of length.”

Ohl is excited by the new role and hopes, like Cole Sands, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Louie Varland, shorter outings mean a faster fastball.

“The numbers suggest it’s a great idea,” said Ohl, a changeup specialist whose fastball averaged 91.7 mph last month. “I always make jokes about being [Hall of Fame closer] Trevor Hoffman because I throw so many changeups. But who knows? If my velo increases like those other guys, I will not be complaining one bit.”

To make room for Ohl, the Twins designated for assignment righthander Brooks Kriske, who had an 11.70 ERA with nine walks in 10 innings.

Christian Vázquez has not given up on the 2025 season.

“He is starting his baseball activity and ramp-up at this stage, with the ultimate plan of getting him back to playing again,” Paparesta said.

Vázquez, a free agent at the end of the season after three seasons with the Twins, hopes to prove to prospective suitors that he’s still healthy enough to play, despite the infection and his .174 batting average this season.

• Justin Topa felt some unusual soreness in his left knee in the ninth inning and was removed one out from the end of the game for Génesis Cabrera, who retired Mike Yastrzemski with the bases loaded for his sixth career save. “I just saw him in the trainer’s room. He’s in good spirits,” Baldelli said of Topa. “We’re hoping it was just a jolt, something that he can be right back from.”

• Twins players and coaches donned NFL jerseys for the postgame flight to Anaheim, Calif. “Don’t hate me, Minnesota,” Kody Clemens said, holding up his Packers jersey with Jordan Love’s name on the back. Clemens said he grew up a Green Bay fan because his youth team in Texas was named the Packers.

• Baldelli modeled an Alan Page Vikings jersey he bought for the occasion. But with so many rookies and roster moves, the clubhouse assistants were kept busy this weekend acquiring jerseys for those who didn’t have them. “There’s going to be a lot of Chiefs on that flight,” one joked.