FORT MYERS, Fla. — This winter, Tyler Mahle added spin to his slider, strength to his shoulder and a baby to his family.
Thursday morning, as he spoke before the Twins' first official spring training workout for pitchers and catchers, Mahle seemed emblematic of his team: Talented, promising, and desperate for better health and luck.
"This offseason — new house, wife was pregnant — everything was spinning around, going super crazy," he said.
The Twins made a trade with Cincinnati for Mahle last summer. Chronic shoulder problems limited him to four starts and contributed to the Twins' late-season collapse.
Eager to right himself this winter, he immediately began working with Driveline Baseball, a coaching academy, after the season to improve his slider. He rested and rehabbed his right shoulder and plotted a return to the form that, in 2020 and 2021, made him a valuable young pitcher with the Reds.
Last week, he flew from his home near Los Angeles to Tampa, with a layover in Minneapolis, to get to Twins spring training camp early. As he was taking the second leg of the trip, he received a text from his wife. The baby was coming earlier than expected.
Mahle landed in Tampa, got on a direct flight back to Southern California and welcomed the arrival of Huck Mahle. He flew back to Florida on Wednesday and was at his locker early on Thursday, speaking as sirens were going off at Lee County Sports Complex.
Like his shoulder injury and statistics in 2022, the sirens were a source of mystery and concern.