The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians are set to play a double-header on Friday. Both teams made impactful roster moves before the games, as Cleveland placed starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco on the 15-day IL. The Twins later announced an injury move of their own, as starting pitcher Joe Ryan is also being placed on the 15-day IL, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com.
It does not appear that it will be a standard two-week or so stay on the injured list for Ryan, however.
“More tough injury news: Joe Ryan’s injury is worse than the Twins expected. It’s a Grade 2 teres major strain that will take ‘weeks to months,' Rocco (Baldelli) said. Didn’t rule him out for the season outright yet, but it’s certainly more severe than initial indications,” Park wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The only good news is that Ryan has not officially been ruled out for the season. Yet, a Grade 2 teres major strain is obviously far from ideal. The Twins were hoping for a much better update after Ryan exited Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs. They will need other pitchers to step up amid Ryan's potentially long injury absence.
Unfortunate injury update for Joe Ryan, Twins
The 28-year-old right-handed hurler has enjoyed a respectable 2024 season. Ryan has pitched to a 3.60 ERA across 23 games to go along with 147 strikeouts. He's also recorded 135 innings on the mound.
Minnesota is trying to catch up to Cleveland in the American League Central division. The Twins are only 3.5 games back of the Guardians heading into Friday's double-header, but the Ryan injury news will negatively impact Minnesota to say the least.
Chris Paddack is already injured while Pablo Lopez has struggled. Simeon Woods Richardson has given the Twins some quality innings and Bailey Ober has pitched fairly well. Taking all of that into consideration, this is a rotation that truly could not afford to lose a pitcher like Ryan.
The Twins should still have an opportunity to compete. However, they will need the offense to perform at an especially high level. Minnesota will also require a reliable effort from the bullpen. And the starting rotation simply needs to do whatever it can to help the ball club stay afloat down the stretch.
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