Pablo López is excited to pitch against his former teammate Sonny Gray on Saturday night, sure. But what he really wants to do, well, he won’t have the chance.

“I wish I was hitting against him,” López lamented.

The duo faced off against each other twice in 2019 while they both pitched for National League teams, and both pitchers are hitless against each other. But they’ll have to fill their competitive itch against each other on the mound only now, and it’s a matchup that both pitchers, who fronted the Twins’ rotation last season together, are looking forward to.

López and Gray, who signed a three-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals after pitching for the Twins for two seasons, will face off Saturday in a game beginning at 6:10 p.m. at Target Field.

“I got to learn from him, and now going up against him is going to be fun to just have that extra competitive edge going against Sonny, who we all know is a tough competitor, one of the toughest guys out there,” López said. “It’s going to be a really fun challenge to go head-to-head against him.”

Gray, who has a 3.91 earned-run average currently in his first season in St. Louis, is anticipating it as well.

“I have nothing but the most respect for Pablo. I thoroughly, thoroughly, throughly enjoyed working with him last year,” Gray said. “We both brought so much out of each other, I would say. Having another guy like him on the staff that was as dominant, it made me better. I’d like to hope that I was able to help him and make him better. But he definitely made me better.”

Gray’s impact is still felt within the Twins’ clubhouse, where he mentored younger members of the rotation, like Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober, both of whom praised him as a leader.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Gray, now 34, showed younger pitchers that there is a level and a trait of determination and focus necessary to succeed that he thinks brushed off on younger pitchers.

And while Gray said he was told upfront by the front office early in free agency that they did not have the resources to re-sign him, he looks back on his time with Minnesota fondly.

“This was a really good place for me and my family for two years,” Gray said. “We loved our time here.”

Buxton progressing

Byron Buxton was initially hoping to avoid the injured list entirely. Then, he was hoping to be back after 10 days, on the first day he was eligible.

Neither happened, but the Twins’ center fielder, who is dealing with hip inflammation, has accepted that that’s best both for him and for the team.

“(I was) not rushing it but just trying to get back at 10 days,” Buxton said. “One of those things that just didn’t work out. Just staying positive. Understanding if things didn’t work out in 10 days, it’ll be better at some point.”

Buxton said he has been feeling better, though he said he’s still feeling the inflammation when he runs. His swing feels fine and defense and throwing both feel good. So now, it’s just getting over the hurdles of running, even if he isn’t 100 percent.

“It’s that point in the season where you aren’t going to be perfect,” he said. “So it’s just more about the toleration of what I can take.”

Buxton said he hopes to avoid going on a rehab assignment. Earlier in the week, head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said the decision on whether he needs to play in rehab games would be at “a player’s discretion at this stage.”

At this point, with the Twins currently in possession of a wild card berth and in the hunt for the American League Central Division title, Buxton understands the importance of every game — which is he why he understands why missing some now might be better overall in the long run.

“One of those things where, don’t try to do anything crazy,” Buxton said. “We are where we are in the season and there’s no place I’d rather be than to be playing. But it’s also that point in not trying to go out there too quick and have another setback.”

Briefly

Alex Kirilloff (back) started a rehab assignment on Friday with Triple-A St. Paul, and Brooks Lee (biceps) will play on Saturday in St. Paul, Baldelli said. “They’ll both be in the lineup on the 25th, and then they can go from there. They’ll keep playing. They’re not going to be immediately activated at that point.”