Twins’ Sam Dyson out for season after shoulder surgery

DETROIT – Minnesota reliever Sam Dyson had surgery on his shoulder, ending the right-hander’s season and potentially putting 2020 in jeopardy as well.

Dyson had the capsule repair operation Tuesday in California. Manager Rocco Baldelli said the timeline isn’t firm, but it could be a year before he can pitch in a game again.

“There can be instances where guys come back sooner, some later,” Baldelli said. “It’s something that you can certainly come back from, but that’s kind of what we’re looking at right now.”

The Twins acquired Dyson from San Francisco at the trade deadline this year, sending three minor leaguers to the Giants. He has one more club-controllable year before he can become a free agent.

Dyson went on the injured list less than a week after being acquired and has made only 12 appearances since the trade.

“It’s disappointing, certainly, I would say, with respect to what he was feeling when he was pitching here in that first couple weeks for us – and probably something he was feeling for a while,” said Derek Falvey, the Twins’ chief baseball officer. “It’s difficult, that process, in terms of acquisition of players, it’s not a complete process always.”

Falvey said acquiring a player in the hectic hours before the trade deadline is different than bringing in a free agent in the offseason.

“The reality of it, someone’s flying across country to join a new team, and there’s really no physical process beforehand,” Falvey said. “We do a review process, have our trainers and docs review everything – and felt good about it at that time.”

Minnesota had a chance to clinch the AL Central title Wednesday with a victory at Detroit and a Cleveland loss to the White Sox, but now any postseason run will have to come without one of the team’s key additions.

“I’m disappointed for us. I’m more disappointed for him than anybody else. This is his baseball career,” Baldelli said. “To see anyone have to go through this, it’s not pleasant.”

Falvey stressed that the timeline is in many ways up in the air, but he outlined how long it might be before Dyson can really start working toward a return.

“I do know five to six months of kind of some time to really get rehabbing, get into a good place, and then subsequently start a throwing program, and then there’s a progression from there,” Falvey said. “All depends on the individual, but I would expect a five-to-six month down time before he starts that throwing program.”