NORTH PORT, Fla. — When Twins pitcher Chris Paddack went under the knife two years ago, he joined a club that no pitcher wants to be a part of — a group of players who have had Tommy John surgery twice.

Paddack first had his ulnar collateral ligament repaired in 2016 when he was a prospect in the low minors and again in May 2022.

The players in that group have had mixed results, but the Twins are banking heavily on the health of Paddack’s right elbow. The starting pitcher, who threw four innings in the Twins’ 3-0 exhibition game loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon at CoolToday Park, has slid back into the rotation, where his success will be critical for the group.

Fortunately for both Paddack and the Twins, there’s some precedence of pitchers coming back and exhibiting success after having the surgery twice. And Paddack is feeling strong and healthy.

He ramped his pitch count up to 67 on Monday, the most he had thrown in a game since undergoing the surgery. He was particularly excited about an 87-mile-per-hour slider he threw late in the effort.

Paddack, facing a lineup comprised mainly of major leaguers, dealt with some traffic on the bases, especially early, but limited the damage to just a run, which came on Ozzie Albies’ solo home run.

“Still got a lot of things to clean up but did a lot of good things today, and one of those was leaving the traffic out there on base,” he said. “It’s something I take pride in.”

What, exactly, would he like to clean up?

“Just two strikes, man. I’ve been saying it for three weeks now,” he said. “… A couple of two-strike counts there where I can be better. I’m not going to be perfect every time, I do know that, but I’m still going to hold myself to that standard of where I want to get to.”

Paddack then pointed out the two strikeouts he finished with on the day, and then referenced the nine Ks Braves starter Spencer Strider, who led the majors in strikeouts last season, recorded, after taking a peek at the box score when his outing wrapped up.

And then he walked away from his effort, which matched the most number of innings he’s thrown in a game since his second surgery “exhausted,” but proud of himself.

“We’re really close,” he said. “I did a lot of things really well.”

Twins trim roster

The Twins made another round of cuts on Monday, reassigning top pitching prospect David Festa to minor-league camp and optioning a trio of arms — Simeon Woods Richardson, Matt Canterino and Brent Headrick.

Woods Richardson has had a strong spring, throwing five scoreless innings and seeing an increase in velocity after lowering his arm slot this offseason. Headrick, who gave up a pair of runs in three innings on Monday, and Woods Richardson will return to Triple-A, where they will both start for the Saints.

“These guys need to go prepare themselves, get stretched out, stay on their plan in minor-league camp, where they can get all the attention they need,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Briefly

Kyle Farmer was hit by a pitch on Monday and was a little bruised postgame, Baldelli said. He will be evaluated again on Tuesday. …  Joe Ryan will take the ball on Tuesday when the Twins head to Lakeland to play the Detroit Tigers. He will be opposed by former Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda.

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