FORT MYERS, Fla. — As the playoffs slipped away from the Twins’ grasp last season, their late September games last year, in the grand scheme of things, became less and less important.

Not to Justin Topa.

Just three games at the end of September stood between the reliever and a completely lost season. But after dealing with tendinitis in his left knee, then with inflammation in his right elbow, he finally made it back in late September, throwing 2⅓ innings and making the most of what little he could of the 2024 season.

Those three games served as a springboard for Topa, who is now healthy — both his knee and arm feel good, he said — and is looking to make an impact for the Twins this season.

Those three games, manager Rocco Baldelli said, gave Topa “the ability to go into the offseason and feel like he’s in a good spot, as opposed to guessing if he’s in a good spot.”

“Physically, it doesn’t matter as much probably as what it brings to him mentally and what it gives us mentally, too, going into the offseason knowing what we think we’re getting,” Baldelli added. “All around, I think it was a good thing.”

Topa broke out in the majors in 2024, posting a 2.61 earned-run average across 69 innings and becoming a heavily-relied upon member of the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen. He was included in the trade that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle and was expected to be a big piece of the Twins’ bullpen last year before his knee flared up in spring training.

Building back up was anything but a smooth ride. He was close to returning in early May before having to shut things down, and halt his rehab assignment, because of his knee. A July/August rehab assignment was shut down because of his arm.

“It felt like I was getting to the right spot and then I got back in games and it was almost like two steps forward, three steps back. … And then obviously going through the second injection and second shutdown and trying to get built back up, it was almost like three or four different waves of buildups and shutdowns,” Topa said.

Being able to go home every day to his wife, Trish, and his young daughter, Isabella, was a silver lining and helped him mentally through all the ups and downs of the season.

But he yearned to be contributing, and now he hopes all of that is behind him as he works to re-establish himself in the Twins’ bullpen.

“It was a tough, long year in and of itself,” Topa said. “I think for me it was just like, ‘Alright, let’s just salvage something.’ … I think just for me going into the offseason with kind of a clean slate and not … missing the whole year, it’s a different mentality going into the offseason having a little bit of a workload there at the end and then building off that.”

Twins add veteran pitcher

The Twins added veteran right-hander Erasmo Ramírez on a minor league deal with an invite to big-league camp on Saturday.

Ramírez, 34, had a 4.35 ERA across 20⅔ innings pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. The veteran has pitched in parts of 13 major league seasons with his best year coming in 2022 when he posted a 2.92 ERA in 60 games with the Washington Nationals.

Briefly

Jose Miranda and Ty France, whose deal with the Twins became official on Saturday, were among the new faces at camp on Friday. France takes the 40-man roster spot of Brent Hendrick, who was claimed off waivers by the Yankees this week. … Stars Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa are among the only players who have not yet reported to spring training. The first full squad workout is set for Monday.

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