Farmer back after fastball to face, 4 root canals

Minnesota Twins shortstop Kyle Farmer, who missed 25 games following oral surgery after taking a 92 mph pitch to his face on April 12, has been activated off the 10-day injured list, the team announced Wednesday.

Farmer, 32, had a procedure to realign four bottom teeth and suture together lacerations on his lower lip after getting hit by Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito. In all, he said, he had 35 stitches and four root canal procedures.

“Right when I went down, I remember just feeling my teeth covering my tongue in the back of my mouth,” Farmer told KARE Ch. 11 in Minneapolis when recounting the incident. “It’s kind of gruesome. I thought I was swallowing my four bottom teeth.

“I felt the trainers come out, and they took me under and the first thing I said to them was that you have to get me to the hospital. So they did and got me there. … As they were wheeling me into the hospital, I could feel all of the eyes on me … and you know that look when they look at you and look down … I was like … I must look pretty bad.”

He batted .308 with a homer and three RBIs during a four-game rehab assignment at Triple-A St. Paul. Before the injury, Farmer was batting .226 with one homer and five RBIs in 11 games for the Twins.

Farmer told KARE that he’ll now be wearing a face guard on his helmet.

“You’re going to get hit, but you just have to get back up and face the fear of not getting hit again,” Farmer said.

Minnesota optioned infielder Jose Miranda to St. Paul to clear a spot on its 26-man roster.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.