Sweat dripped down Pablo López’s face in the hours before Tuesday’s game, fresh off a bullpen session in which he threw nearly 30 pitches, simulated a couple of at-bats and tested out his hamstring, once again.

That bullpen session went well, López said, as did the rehab outing he made for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints in Des Moines on Saturday. And now, he appears poised to return — possibly as soon as Thursday, though the Twins have yet to make an announcement on when he will next start.

The Twins have listed Thursday’s starter as TBA. That’s the day López is first eligible to return from the 15-day injured list. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he had “a loose date” for López’s next start, which he did not yet announce.

“I think he’s in a really good spot to return to the big leagues, not have to make another rehab start and then rejoin the rotation,” Baldelli said. “That’s probably the best I can go with right now. All positive from his rehab.”

López threw 4 2/3 innings on Saturday night, allowing a run on three hits while striking out four. He got a workout in in a hallway “very minor league style,” he said, and catered a meal for the Saints while he was down in Iowa.

Sushi was not his first choice because “Iowa is as landlocked as you can possibly (get),” he said, but clubhouse manager Matt Tramp assured him he knew a good spot, and López made sure the minor leaguers were fed well.

“There were even some people that had sushi for breakfast on Sunday,” he said. “I don’t know how I feel about breakfast sushi … but no, it was good. It worked out, and everyone was thankful for it, which is always a very pleasant thing to feel.”

Bader commits to WBC

Harrison Bader had to pull out of the World Baseball Classic last time around because of an oblique injury, but he’s excited to have another opportunity, announcing on a podcast that was released on Tuesday that he would suit up for Team Israel in the 2026 tournament.

Bader was born in the United States, but per WBC rules, a player is eligible to compete for a country if they meet the eligibility requirements for citizenship. Bader, who is Jewish, does.

“The World Baseball Classic is awesome for so many reasons, and just getting an opportunity to represent Israel on the baseball side and wearing that uniform I think is special for me and my friends and family and a lot of people I love and support tremendously,” Bader said.

Briefly

Royce Lewis (hamstring) did a total body lift, glove work, sprints and hit in the cage as part of his day of work on Monday. On Tuesday, he ran the bases. Lewis was injured more than a month ago running to first base during a spring training game. … Willi Castro was out of the starting lineup again on Tuesday. He did not play this weekend after leaving Wednesday’s game with oblique tightness, but the Twins did not put him on the injured list, and Baldelli said he thought they would benefit from that.

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