MN Twins Injuries: Another Brock Stewart Setback + Michael Tonkin Latest

It’s been a less-than-ideal start to the season for the Minnesota Twins, and the misfortune started before they built the 3-6 record they have entering Monday’s series opener vs the Kansas City Royals.

Not only were the Twins forced to start 2025 without infielders Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, who both remain on the injured list for now, but health issues have cost manager Rocco Baldelli a couple of his best middle relievers, too — RHP Brock Stewart and LHP Michael Tonkin.

An ugly loss against the Houston Astros on Sunday was a byproduct of the bullpen’s latest meltdown. Despite a 7-1 lead in earlier innings, the Astros forced extras when a suddenly unreliable Griffin Jax gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Yordan Alvarez in the top of the 9th inning, which tied the game 7-7.

Brock Stewart remains out for Minnesota Twins

Brock Stewart is a high-leverage arm that absolutely would have factored into the Twins’ middle/back of the bullpen equation in 2025. Unfortunately, the vast majority of his time in Minnesota has been spent on the injured list.

This spring, following season-ending surgery in 2024, Stewart looked good to start Grapefruit League play, tossing three innings in four games. Then, just when we all thought his arm was in a good place, a hamstring strain landed him on the IR in March.

As tends to be the case when the Twins report early injuries, Stewart’s bad hamstring was initially reported as mild. Now weeks into the regular season, Brock’s return timeline is being extended yet again. According to Phil Miller (Star Tribune), the setback stems from tightness Stewart felt in his hamstring while ramping up for a rehab assignment in St. Paul.

“Righthander Brock Stewart had hoped to make a couple of rehab appearances for Class AAA St. Paul last week, but he reported tightness in a hamstring, forcing the Twins to pull back. Falvey said the Twins will know later this week what Stewart’s new timeline looks like.”

Phil Miller – Star Tribune

Stewart has thrown just 43 1/3 innings since 2023 with Minnesota. Across six major league seasons, he has only 149 total innings pitched under his belt. And most forget, he used to be an 11-game starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Brock Stewart ⛽️⛽️ pic.twitter.com/uESxgwqEWf

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 30, 2024

The MN Twins would love to have Brock Stewart back, if he can ever get healthy. Since landing in Minnesota, the 33-year-old has pitched 43.1 impressive innings, posting a 2.28 ERA, 12.3 SO/9 and 2.78 FIP. During 27 2/3 innings of work in 2023, Stewart allowed just two runs total.

MN Twins not on Michael Tonkin’s radar either

Stewart’s update isn’t a positive one, and what Phil Miller gathered on Michael Tonkin isn’t all that great either. Tonkin just threw his first bullpen session in Fort Myers, recently. That means we are still weeks — maybe even months — out from him returning to the bullpen.

“Righthander Michael Tonkin threw a bullpen session in Fort Myers as he recovers from shoulder soreness that cut his spring training short by several weeks. “It’s good news, but we don’t have a specific timetable on when he can progress to” facing hitters in batting practice, Falvey said, much less to playing rehab games.”

Phil Miller – Star Tribune

It was a mild surprise that the MN Twins brought Tonkin back after he was released last season. The $1 million arbitration salary was just too good of a deal to pass up, especially with Caleb Thielbar leaving in free agency.

Tonkin threw just 2 2/3 innings this spring, allowing four runs on six hits. Maybe the poor performance was a result of his shoulder issues. When the 35-year-old does eventually return to the Minnesota Twins bullpen they hope to get the reliever who posted a 3.63 ERA across 79 1/3 big league innings in 2024.

Related: Minnesota Twins Swap Out Bullpen Pitchers

The lack of expected bullpen arms out of the gate has led to Randy Dobnak, Darren McCaughan, and now Scott Blewett all being shuttled through the relief corps during the first nine games of the 2025 regular season. That doesn’t look like it’ll come to an end anytime soon, unless the starting staff figures out how to last more innings.