KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Double-A Chattanooga lefty Tyler Jay, taken sixth overall in the 2015 draft out of Illinois, is being evaluated for thoracic outlet syndrome and is likely headed for season-ending surgery.
Jay, 23, is rated the Twins’ No. 5 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB.com despite throwing a total of 16 innings the past two seasons. Signed to a bonus of $3.89 million, Jay made 13 starts with a 2.84 earned-run average at Class A Fort Myers in the first half of 2016, but shoulder weakness after a midseason promotion to Double-A landed him on the disabled list.
Tests last summer had ruled out a shoulder injury or TOS. Instead, the diagnosis last August was neuropraxia, which is considered a mild nerve injury, and the decision was made to move Jay to the bullpen full-time this spring.
Jay joins the list of TOS cases in the Twins organization. Phil Hughes recently returned in a relief role after a month-long stay on the DL with a recurrence of TOS symptoms.
Recently signed right-hander Dillon Gee is pitching at Triple-A Rochester, while journeyman Nick Tepesch, who spent time in May with the Twins, failed to get out of the first inning in a Gulf Coast League outing this week.
TWITTER EVIDENCE
After replay review failed to restore what he saw as a legitimate home run Friday night, Brian Dozier was heartened a bit by a Twitter message from a Royals fan.
Luke Thomas, a student at Missouri State in Springfield, Mo., tagged Dozier in a late-night tweet that read: “Hey, @BrianDozier, you actually did hit a home run tonight. Sry bud.” A yellow smudge can clearly be seen on one side of the ball that Thomas said he caught after it scraped the foul pole.
“You always wonder who caught it, who was right there and saw it,” Dozier said. “It was pretty cool. He’s a huge Royals fan but he did say, yeah, it did hit the bottom of the pole and ricochet right to his feet.”
The Twins planned to submit video evidence to Major League Baseball of both Dozier’s rare blast down the right-field line (waved foul by first-base umpire Jordan Baker) and Eric Hosmer’s three-run homer to left an inning later. The Twins felt even more confident their video director Sean Harlin had an angle that clearly showed Hosmer’s fly ball wrapped around the left-field foul pole.
Twins manager Paul Molitor wondered why foul poles are painted yellow rather than a darker hue that better shows the contrast with a white baseball.
“We’ve got to do something about it,” Dozier said. “(MLB) spent all that money last year on enhancing replay and they still can’t get calls right.”
STEWART RETURNS
Right-hander Kohl Stewart, taken fourth overall by the Twins in the 2013 draft, returned to the mound Thursday at Double-A Chattanooga after missing more than seven weeks with a knee injury.
Stewart, 22, gave up an earned run on four hits and a walk in six innings, but he struck out just two. Stewart took the place of fellow righty Felix Jorge, promoted to start Saturday’s doubleheader nightcap as the Twins’ 26th man.
JAX PLAN
Right-hander Griffin Jax, the Twins’ third-round pick in 2016 out of the Air Force Academy, has been promoted to Class A Cedar Rapids after one start for rookie-level Elizabethton. Jax, 22, has thrown just 13 1/3 pro innings due to his Air Force obligations.
The athletic-exemption guidelines for service academy graduates are being altered, which means Jax will have to put baseball aside once again later this summer. Signed to a bonus of $645,600, Jax put in a request to be stationed at an Air Force base in Florida so he could be closer to Fort Myers, but the Twins were still waiting to hear if that would be approved.
Triple-A outfielder Daniel Palka, out since being hit with a pitch on the right wrist on May 27, still hasn’t been cleared for full baseball activity. Palka was slugging .452 with eight homers in 157 at-bats at the time of his injury.
Reliever J.T. Chargois remains on the DL with a stress reaction in his throwing elbow and isn’t close to a return.
STILL TALKING
The Twins were still trying to sign 11th-round pick Gabriel Rodriguez, a speedy high school outfielder from Puerto Rico, and 16th-round right-hander Cade Smith, a University of Hawaii signee. The deadline for signing this year’s picks is 4 p.m. Central on July 7. Anything over $125,000 counts against the Twins’ total bonus pool of $14.16 million, but they believe they have just enough left to get both players signed.
According to MLB.com, the Twins went to $125,000 for just two of their signings after Round 10 so far: 12th-round right-hander Bailey Ober (College of Charleston) and 18th-round center fielder Colton Burns (Cal-Santa Barbara). They had signed 28 draftees in all.
