If Chris Paddack had his way, he would successfully rehab from the forearm muscle strain that has sidelined him since July 15 and slot back into the Twins rotation for the final postseason push.

“I haven’t got to experience a starter role in a playoff atmosphere with fans,” Paddack said Sunday.

Paddack has started in a game in the playoffs — for San Diego in 2020, but that was MLB’s COVID season — a forgettable start (six runs on eight hits in 2⅓ innings) with no fans in the stands. “It was cardboard cutouts,” he said.

Last year, Paddack returned from injury to pitch two scoreless innings against the Astros in the AL Division Series, allowing one hit and striking out six in 3⅔ innings. “Probably the most dominant couple innings of my career,” he said.

Paddack just hopes to pitch meaningful games this season, whether it’s as a starter or reliever, for a Twins team that started Sunday 2½ games behind first-place Cleveland in the American League Central and a game up on Kansas City for the third wild card spot.

Neither he nor the Twins know what the big right-hander will do if he’s able to return this season.

“He certainly could be a bullpen guy, but I would assume nothing,” manager Rocco Baldelli said before Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Cleveland at Target Field. “It’s yet to be determined, is what it is. More than anything, we need to get Paddy strong and healthy and that’s it. That’s going to be our first focus.”

Paddack, 28, is on the injured list because of pain and fluid buildup in his forearm, but relieved it wasn’t another elbow injury. He already has had the ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm replaced twice. After a three-week layoff, he has played some catch, and on Saturday threw a football. He was scheduled to do some sock drills on Sunday.

It’s a slow process that he hopes will build up the arm enough to pitch at least a few innings in a major league game and, he said, he won’t jeopardize his career — he’s sign through 2025 — to get back this season.

“I feel a hundred percent after taking that time off, but how does that forearm/flexor/pronator respond to testing it a little bit?” he said. “We want to make sure this doesn’t pop up towards the end of our progression and have another setback and it takes me out of position to be able to contribute. That’s the last thing we want.

“Middle of September, end of September, playoffs? I don’t have that date, but this team, this organization knows I’m going to do everything I can to be back — but without cutting any corners.”

The letter of the day is ‘W’

The Twins symbolically retired the letter ‘W’ in honor of the Washington Senators, who moved to Minnesota before the 1961 season. The announcement was made before Sunday’s game in a ceremony honoring the Senators’ 1924 World Series victory.

Twins owner and executive chair Joe Pohlad said the ‘W,’ now on a plaque with the Twins’ 10 retired numbers in left-field foul territory, “is a reminder of our legacy as a charter member of the American League.”

As part of the celebration, the Hall of Fame plaque of former Senators great Walter Johnson was on display at Target Field, where fans could take photos with it. It marked the first time the plaque had left Cooperstown since 1939.

Briefly

Pablo Lopez is scheduled to start the first of a three-game set against Kansas City on Monday at Target Field. After that, it’s TBA and TBA as the Twins scramble to fill the void left by Joe Ryan, on the injured list with a Grade 2 strain in his right shoulder. “We have some things that we need to line up,” Badelli said. … Left-hander Steven Okert returned from the bereavement list on Sunday but was not activated for Sunday’s game.