Alex Kirilloff strolled through the Twins clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon on his way to chat with Rocco Baldelli in the manager’s office. It was a strange scene considering the Twins sent Kirilloff across the river to the St. Paul Saints last week as he worked through some struggles at the plate.

Though the details of that particular conversation will remain behind closed doors, Baldelli was clearly frustrated with Kirilloff after the Twins ultimately rescinded his option to the minors, and instead placed him on the injured list with a back injury that he’s been playing through.

No doubt the most frustrating part for Baldelli was the fact that Kirilloff did not communicate that this is something that’s been bothering him.

“Even when I talked to AK a couple of days ago, I called him in here and I told him that he was actually being optioned, it wasn’t something he brought up in the moment,” Baldelli said. “The communication on that, if that was something that was worsening and he was unable to play, does need to be better.”

Asked about the back injury, Kirilloff confirmed that he initially got an MRI on May 26. He admitted he’s been trying to play through the pain ever since despite feeling some soreness in his lower back. He also mentioned there have been some nerve issues that have caused pain to shoot down his leg.

“I just want to play and stay on the field and not pull myself off the field,” Kirilloff said. “It’s kind of hard to say something when you want to be out there every day.”

Though he certain empathizes with a player trying to play through the pain, Baldelli emphasized that the expectation is for a player to be able to communicate when he isn’t feeling right. That’s a big reason he publicly expressed his frustration with Kirilloff.

“There’s a fine line sometimes in our game between pushing through something, playing through something, grinding through something, and then saying, ‘I’m in pain. I can’t play,’” Baldelli said. “It’s hard to say those words sometimes, but if you’re not able, at some point, you’ve got to be able to say it.”

As frustrated as Baldelli was in the moment, he shifted the focus to getting Kirilloff feeling like himself again.

“The goal here is to get him healthy and right,” Baldelli said. “He’s got all the ability to be one of our best hitters and one of the best hitters in the league when he’s right. That’s what we need to do. We need to get him in a better place physically so he can help us.”

As for Kirilloff, no matter how competitive he is at his core, no mater how much he wants to play through the pain, no matter the circumstance surrounding his situation, it’s safe to assume he will be more willing to speak up in the future.

“Things need to be communicated at a high level here, especially when we’re all trying to compete to win a championship,” Kirilloff said. “I just need to do a better job of communicating how I’m feeling and what’s going on with that process so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Related Articles

Carlos Correa’s torrid stretch earns him player of the week honors

Torrid Matt Wallner is International League player of the week

In Twins clubhouse, starter Pablo López serves as ringleader of fun

Twins’ Ryan Jeffers debuts new painted helmets: “Like artwork”

Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Twins blast past Athletics in doubleheader sweep