It helped in Canterino’s rehab that he was able to lean on Chris Paddack, who was similarly building back up from Tommy John surgery, but a few weeks ahead of Canterino’s timeline. That made Paddack an important source of experience and recommendations as the pair navigated their buildups together -- culminating, of course, in Paddack’s highly successful return to the Majors as part of the Twins’ playoff bullpen.
“We got to pick each other's brains a little bit, talk about what we wanted to work on and how we wanted to make sure that we were using this time to get better, not just trying to get back to where we were,” Canterino said.
Opportunity might not be very far away if Canterino’s stuff holds up and he can even come close to replicating that past success. He’s already on the 40-man roster, which typically represents a big hurdle, and the Twins clearly regarded his stuff highly enough to put him there even while he was still on the mend from his procedure.
A possible -- perhaps likely -- move to the bullpen has always been at the forefront of the Canterino conversation, and that could perhaps play more prominently in his first season back from this recovery, when his innings are sure to be limited, especially given his extremely small workload in the Minors. With that said, Canterino noted that his surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, indicated that 125 innings wouldn’t be out of the question, from a medical standpoint.
But regardless of when and in what form an opportunity might come, Canterino knows that, first and foremost, he has a lot to prove -- and he’s just glad he has finally put himself in a position to make that push.
“I've got to hold up my end of the bargain and come in prepared,” Canterino said. “Obviously, some things are out of my control in terms of opportunity, but I know that if I pitch the way that I know how and how my previous performances have shown how, I can help this team win ballgames.”
