Spencer Bengard could hardly believe what he was hearing. Just days earlier, the pitcher had wrapped up his first full season of professional baseball and now he was being asked if he would like to go to Minneapolis to throw to major leaguers.

He thought it was a joke.

“I was like, ‘Really?’ ” Bengard said.

It wasn’t. Bengard was one of four minor-league pitchers — along with Jordan Carr, Cleiber Maldonado and Jack Noble — who had recently wrapped up their minor-league seasons that the Twins brought to town to the big leagues to throw to a quartet of injured players.

Rather than send Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Manuel Margot on the road to Columbus, Ohio, where the Triple-A Saints are currently playing, the Twins brought the live at-bats to them.

On Wednesday, in the hours before the ballpark was open to fans, Bengard was out throwing live batting practice, simulating four innings for the group.

Shortly after that concluded, the Twins activated Margot from the injured list, and after the game, the Twins announced Buxton would be back on Friday. The other two could soon follow.

For them, it was just a way to get a few more at-bats under their belt against live pitching before they returned. For Bengard, it was somewhat of a surreal experience.

“Being around the big leaguers is really cool,” he said. “Seeing all the clubhouse and all the amenities and stuff like that, it’s really amazing. Playing in a stadium like this is definitely the dream. Hopefully I’m up here one day, but it is definitely a great experience to see how it all works.”

Bengard finished the year with a 1.51 earned-run average across 83 1/3 innings pitched between Class-A Fort Myers and Class-A Advanced Cedar Rapids. He struck out 72 and walked 14, posting a 0.984 WHIP (Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched) while stretching out as a starter.

And his year ended at Target Field, seeing how his stuff played against a group of major-league veterans, an experience he said “doesn’t really feel real.”

“It’s just a fun feeling when you see yourself getting better and just developing and getting closer to the big dream,” Bengard said.

Buxton’s return

The Twins were feeling good after Wednesday night’s win, a complete team effort that saw multiple players break out of slumps and the bullpen step up in a big way. Getting official word that Buxton was on his way back only helped lift the mood even higher.

The Twins have been without their center fielder for a month — he last played on Aug. 12 and was placed on the injured list a few days later. To make room on the roster, utilityman Austin Martin is headed back to Triple-A.

“I think it’s great for everyone because it’s just a glimmer of hope, no matter how we were feeling or what was going on in the past,” third baseman Royce Lewis said. “From the present on, and looking toward the future, to have Buck or Correa, all these guys coming back it seems like, it just gives us hope, and having them around is huge.”

Briefly

The Twins return to play on Friday when they play host to the Cincinnati Reds. Bailey Ober will start the game, which will begin at 7:10 p.m. … After winning two games against the Los Angeles Angels, the Twins’ odds before Thursday’s slate of games to make the playoffs were back up to 86.6 percent, per FanGraphs.