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Aaron Thompson Becoming Trusted Arm In Twins' Bullpen

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- This story isn't going to have any statistics in it. That's by request from Aaron Thompson.

The Twins relief pitcher avoids talking about them as ardently as he avoids throwing a hanging slider. In fact, before conducing the interview for this story, he specifically asked that statistics not be brought up.

In a sport that practically runs on stats, it speaks to his mindset on the mound and in general.

It doesn't matter what he's done. Only what he's going to do.

"I did well," Thompson said of his impressive start to the season. "That was yesterday. Today is a new day."

There would be plenty of stats to talk about if Thompson wanted: How he leads the team in holds, is second only to All-Star closer Glen Perkins in ERA, and has pitched more innings than any other reliever on the team --- which underscores the level of trust he's earned from manager Paul Molitor.

"He's taken the opportunity that's been given to him," Molitor said.

But those are all things he doesn't like to talk about, which, when it comes to baseball, is kind of like going to the Hershey factory and not mentioning chocolate.

But it's an approach that appears to be working.

"It's a start to a season," Thompson said, emphasizing the word start. "And to tell you the truth, I don't usually start well. And this has been cool to have some quick success and even to get to talk about it. But that's the thing, is realistically, it's been a couple weeks man, and that's what it is."

What it is is all the more remarkable given that the guy who has become one of Minnesota's most trusted and reliable relievers didn't even make the major league roster out of spring training.

"I can't say I was excited about it," Thompson said of the news he'd be heading to Triple-A. "But I had my head on straight. So it was kind of cool that I got to experience all that and then get that better phone call, to come back and travel with the team and be part of the big league club."

His opportunity came when Ervin Santana was suspended. The Twins called up Thompson to take Santana's place on the roster, somewhat fitting considering Thompson himself was suspended three years ago for a different kind of drug, sitting 50 games after a positive marijuana test.

"It sounds cliche, but life is a journey," he said. "And I feel rewarded that that was a part of my journey, that was something that I got to experience and see the other side of."

An experience he says really taught him a lot about, well, that it doesn't matter what you've done. Only what you're going to do.

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