JA Happ was keen to start over with a new team and had to slow down before throwing a single pitch for the Minnesota Twins.
The left-handed man tested positive for COVID-19 after reporting to spring training, which put his training plan on hold.
Happ cleared the virus logs Tuesday and participated in team workouts at the Fort Myers, Florida camp for the first time. The rest of the twins played an exhibition game against Atlanta in North Port.
The 38-year-old Happ, who quit the New York Yankees and signed with the Twins for $ 8 million that season in January, admitted he was concerned about making up for lost time and “a little pressure” in his bullpen session ” close.
Happ said his smell and taste senses haven’t returned, but beyond that, he feels physically good.
“It’s weird. I make a protein smoothie every day and I remember waking up one day and doing that and I was like, ‘Did I make the wrong ingredients here? said Happ.
“And then two minutes later I realized that this is some kind of symptom that you get with it. That was over a week ago. But I think it’s coming back. I feel like I get a few bits and pieces here and there so hopefully this will continue, ”he said.
Two-time AL Central champion Twins hopes Happ can give them a veteran presence in the background of their rotation. Happ was a 20-game winner with Toronto in 2016 and an All-Star in 2018 when he played for the Blue Jays and Yankees. Last year he went 2-2 in nine starts with 3.47 ERA.
FROM THE AREA OF THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUE:
PADRES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 2 (8 INNINGS)
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a grand slam and interrupted the long drive with a little bat flip. The 22-year-old shortstop, fresh from his 14-year $ 340 million deal, brought back memories of last season’s slam Diego when the Padres became the first team in MLB history to do one in four consecutive games Slam scored.
Tatis also teamed up for a double steal when Trent Grisham swept home.
Arizona starter Caleb Smith was awarded four hits and two walks in two innings for six runs.
Travis d’Arnaud scored in his first spring in bat and Ender Inciarte scored two goals for Atlanta. Ian Anderson threw two goalless innings, allowing three hits and a walk.
Max Kepler and Byron Buxton were each selected for Minnesota.
CARDINALS 0, MARLINS 0 (7)
Adam Wainwright, who attended St. Louis for the 16th time at the age of 39, looked as sharp as ever, throwing two perfect innings and knocking out one. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt each got one of the four Cardinals singles.
Miami starter Pablo Lopez gave up two hits in two innings.
Marcus Stroman, who signed out of the game last season on coronavirus concerns, threw two perfect innings for the Mets. He knocked out two and threw 30 pitches.
New York newcomer James McCann made his spring debut behind the plate, kicking out a runner who was trying to steal. Jeff McNeil hit a solo homerun in his first at-bat and Albert Almora Jr. also connected. Jordan Yamamoto, who was acquired by Miami to apply for a starting job, threw two innings.
Houston piggybacked two starters, with Framber Valdez producing McNeils Homer and scoring two hits in the first two innings. Cristian Javier, who finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year poll last season, followed with two innings that allowed for two hits and a walk while scoring two hits.
Aaron Judge doubled up and scored for New York. Gleyber Torres had two hits and scored one run. Jordan Montgomery allowed two runs with two hits and two walks in two innings.
Trey Mancini had a victim fly in his second game since going missing last season and recovering from surgery for colon cancer. Cedric Mullins tripled and singled for Baltimore, scoring a run from the grid and racing in one.
BLUE JAYS 4, PHILLIES 2 (6)
Steven Matz allowed one hit in two goalless innings and hit three without a walk. Toronto picked him up from the Mets for three off-season pitching prospects. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays.
Zack Wheeler threw two goalless innings for Philadelphia and gave up a hit.
JD Martinez, who vowed to bounce back from a 2020 season beating just 0.213 in 54 games, hit twice in three games and scored one run for Boston.
Enrique Hernandez hit a solo home run and went twice. Rafael Devers and Yairo Munoz both hit two homers for the Red Sox. Martin Perez threw two goalless innings and allowed one hit.
Newcomer Michael Wacha made his first start for Tampa Bay, going one in a scoreless inning.
Willi Castro hit a solo homer and a double with two runs and JaCoby Jones added a double with two runs for Detroit.
Todd Frazier hit his second home run for Pittsburgh.
Outfielder Rafael Ortega, who signed a minor league deal with Chicago after 34 games for Atlanta last season, hit a triple with many bases. Adbert Alzolay, fighting for the final rotation point, showed a perfect inning on his first start.
Kansas City starter Jacob Junis scored three hits in two innings. Newcomer Andrew Benintendi went 0 for 3.
WHITE SOX 5, RANGERS 5 (6)
White Sox ace Lucas Giolito scored four hits on his first start and scored Ronald Guzman’s solo home run in two innings.
AL MVP José Abreu scored an RBI double. Batsman-designate Andrew Vaughn, Chicago’s top vantage point, hit a triple homer in the first inning ahead of Texan starter Kohei Arihara.
Arihara, who was signed from Japan and ranked fourth in the Rangers, gave up three runs with five hits and one walk. Both innings were shortened because of the pitch counts.
Joey Gallo hit his second home run for Texas.
INDIANS 6, MARINERS 1 (8)
Josh Naylor drove a pair of doubles for Cleveland in three rounds. Andres Gimenez, who started trading from Francisco Lindor of the Mets, has yet to retire this spring – he went 2v2 for the second game in a row, including his first home run.
Yusei Kikuchi, who was applying for a rotation point, started for Seattle. He allowed one run, striking three in two innings. Taylor Trammell doubled in the run.
Athletics 2, BREWERS 1 (7)
Christian Yelich doubled in his first action for Milwaukee. Travis Shaw had an RBI single.
Ramon Laureano tripled for Oakland and his successor Buddy Reed met for the second time this spring.
Los Angeles newcomer José Iglesias hit a homer with three runs in the first inning of Cincinnati prospect Hunter Greene, number 2 in the 2017 amateur draft. Taylor Ward also went deep for the Angels, and starter Andrew Heaney allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings. Eugenio Suárez doubled up and scored for the Reds.
Walker Buehler threw two goalless innings on his spring debut for World Series Champion Dodgers, and Dustin May also followed with two innings. Mookie Betts was 1 for 2 with a double.
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