FORT MYERS, Fla. — Josh Staumont wasn’t feeling well when he took the mound on March 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates — and that was reflected in the 92-mile-per-hour fastballs the veteran reliever was throwing. But it wasn’t anything related to the thoracic outlet syndrome he underwent last summer that contributed to the decrease in velocity. Rather, it was a bout of food poisoning that both Staumont and his wife had to deal with.

After more than a week break from Grapefruit League action, Staumont, who is in the mix for a spot in the Twins’ bullpen, returned to the mound on Saturday, his velocity topping out at 98.4 mph, which is the highest it has been post-surgery.

“It’s just like realizing that that’s something that’s attainable,” Staumont said. “A lot of people said it would never happen again type of thing (so it) is kind of cool.”

Staumont’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.4 mph on Sunday, a big jump from where he has been this spring — though it was a small sample size. Regaining his velocity post-surgery has been a process, and working through it has been “kind of patience and positivity-based,” he said.

“We came in with pretty good feel as to where we were and just as games get going, especially just post-surgery, you kind of always see these other things that may not have sped up as quickly. And so a lot of that’s just solving it and kind of body awareness,” Staumont said. “A lot of times when it’s a neurological thing, especially with a thoracic outlet thing, just some stuff just doesn’t want to move as quickly as others and so kind of ironing that out, working with these guys (and) putting ourselves in a better position.”

The Twins signed Staumont to a one-year deal this offseason in hopes that he could once again be the dominant reliever he was a few years ago before he started dealing with the symptoms that caused him to have thoracic outlet surgery. They were plenty familiar with him, as he spent the first five seasons of his major league career with the division-rival Kansas City Royals.

Upon his arrival in camp, Staumont has been working on his slider and plans to incorporate it more often.

“Each team has a different way they like to pitch guys, each team has a different way to use their players,” he said. “I’m open to any changes and stuff like that. I think our lsider is going to become a good weapon. Whether it’s even or above the curveball percentage, it’s going to be more than it was last year, which was very minimal.”

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli called Saturday’s outing, though he walked a pair of batters and retired just two, a “pretty productive,” outing for the reliever as he works his way back.

“That was probably his best outing that he’s had where his stuff was actually back up. He threw his fastball and slider in the zone, where before he hadn’t,” Baldelli said. “I would call that a definite step forward for him.”

Briefly

The Twins fell 9-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin on Sunday. Brooks Lee, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect, had a triple and a home run and is now hitting .343 this spring. … Joe Ryan will take the mound on Monday when the Twins take on the Boston Red Sox. The game will be televised locally on Bally Sports North.