Pablo Lopez Is Injured. Was It Worth Bringing Him Back This Season?

[Eric Blonigen]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Under the Pohlads' penurious ownership, the Minnesota Twins have frequently made decisions on the business side that are pennywise but pound-foolish. In recent months, this has extended to the on-field product. The latest example of this is the chain of events that led to staff ace Pablo López injuring himself in a game that didn't matter.

In his June 3 start, López tore his teres major while pitching in a minor-league ballpark with a mound that’s (shall we say) suboptimal. He didn’t return until September 5. That’s 13 and a half weeks on the shelf. By the time he was ready to pitch in live games, the season had unofficially been over for six weeks. Many reasonable organizations would look at the factors at play and shut their most expensive player, their ace, and their leader down for the season. Giving him a full offseason to prepare would have been the prudent move.

The Twins, however, brought him back, risks be damned. To be fair, López wanted to do that, too. Still, there it was: in López’s third start back from the IL, he took a comebacker off his shin, then sprinted and dove to gobble up the deflected ball to flip it to first for the out.

He stayed in for six more batters, but his velocity trended down across the board. He only threw two more fastballs the rest of the night.

After the game, he talked about mentally comparing how his arm feels now to how it felt when he blew it out in 2013. This is potentially devastating, and necessitates the question: why was he brought back this season?

After all, these games don’t matter. The season is lost. What is to be gained by López accumulating 15-20 more innings in September? What advantage is there to not giving those innings to someone who could be on the bubble—in danger of being left off the 40-man roster this offseason? Someone like, say, Christian MacLeod could have filled that gap. Sure, Mick Abel has been shelled so far, but so what? Why not give him five more starts down the stretch? Again, it doesn't really matter who pitches those frames. Abel came back to replace López, anyway, so clearly, that was at least an option.

Again, this didn't need to be sold to López. In fact, they'd have had to do a bit of selling to talk him out of taking the mound, once he was healthy. He wanted to take the mound, to go into the offseason on a good note and to be there for his teammates. Still, it's hard not to think that the team accommodated his wishes in part with an eye toward boosting his trade value this winter.

If not for being injured at the time, he might well have been traded at the deadline, as the front office tore the team down to the studs. Since the fire sale, rumors and expectations have persisted that he will be dealt in the offseason, as the Pohlads further constrict the front office’s ability to field a competitive major-league roster. Clubs who may be interested in acquiring him probably wanted to see him down the stretch. Thus, a bet was made—and, as happens so often with the Twins, the dice came up snake eyes.

Now, imaging came back clean between doubleheader games on Saturday. Despite that, López's season is over. He didn't necessarily show off that he's fully back, and he ended the season injured, anyway. So, what was accomplished? And how much worse could this have been?

This worst-case scenario would have had serious implications for the Twins. It would, for starters, have significantly limited Derek Falvey and Jeremy Zoll’s ability to build a roster that‘s even somewhat complete in 2026. Additionally, it would have prevented the front office from trading López during the offseason, something that otherwise seems likely. Finally, it would have removed one of the final remaining veteran presences from the clubhouse, which would undoubtedly have had a knock-on effect in a season where the roster is set to get younger and less experienced. These are all bad things. And, none of those things even factor in the human element of a guy who struggled for months to return from injury hitting the shelf once again, to begin his rehab journey anew.

Look, this is an uncharitable assessment. López all but insisted on returning this season. It could be that he wanted to prove to himself that he is back. Maybe he wanted to set an example for the younger players on the roster. López, like Byron Buxton, is a player others should emulate, look up to, and learn from. Hopefully, he's one fans appreciate—for his preparation, his dedication to his craft, and his ability to give his all in a meaningless game in a lost season. Like Buxton, López is a player the Twins (the corporation) don’t deserve at this point. Hopefully, the front office learned a valuable lesson with this near miss.

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[old nurse]

Fans complain they aren’t winning. Fan complains when they try to win. The injury was not from pitching but on fielding. Bad luck, not overuse 

[USAFChief]

Seriously?

This is a new low for TD articles. 

 

[Cory Engelhardt]

Yes. Yes it was.

And it'll be good to see him start again at Baltimore on 3/26/26.

[Woof Bronzer]

By this logic the Twins should not field a team at all for the rest of the year.  Can't get hurt if you just forfeit the games.  

[TopGunn#22]

Hindsight is always 20-10.  Like an Eagle.  Yes, it was questionable, but it's hard when the player is pushing to get out there.  To me, the silver lining is that there is no way the Twins should trade him this winter.  His value, due to his injury filled season and his contract puts his value far below what it really is.  

If I was a pitching needy team, I'd be working on an angle to trade for Pablo rather than Joe Ryan.  Ryan's value is at an all time high.  Lopez is at about the lowest he's ever been.  If both were healthy and effective next season, their stat lines would be remarkably similar.  They will both be 30 years old.

If the Twins FO feels they simply MUST trade Lopez or Ryan then Joe Ryan is the guy to deal.  He would bring back so much more.  Ryan's BBTV is around 53 to 58 right now.  Lopez is at 12.8.  That's about equal to Bailey Ober.  The primary consideration here is salary.  But all things considered, Pablo's $22 million dollar salary for 2026 and 2027 is actually a bargain. 

Would you rather have Pablo Lopez starting game #1 of a playoff series or Baily Ober??  

Would letting Pablo pitch 2 more games have added a significant bump in value if the Twins were really considering trading him this winter?  Probably not.  So the 2nd guessing sending him out there to pitch a meaningless game is understandable.  

 

 

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, old nurse said:

Fans complain they aren’t winning. Fan complains when they try to win. The injury was not from pitching but on fielding. Bad luck, not overuse 

You're exactly right, the two injuries were totally unrelated. Now if you really are looking for a scapegoat that's equally unlikely but was at least addressed, the game was delayed for wet grounds. Slip? Who knows. Might as well sit everyone the last week if you're worried about them he getting hurt. Silver lining might be that Pablo remains a Twin.

[The Great Hambino]

Since Pablo made it very clear he was itching to get back to be able to have the schedule and routine a healthy offseason would bring (beyond all the standard competitive reasons a player of his ability and character would have for wanting to return), what we're basically asking here is "Should the Twins have forced Pablo against his will to shut it down for the season"

Let's say they had done that.  If they were planning on trading him, the doubts surrounding his health would've depressed his value in the trade market, if not made a move completely unfeasible. If they hadn't been planning on trading him, it would've seriously pissed off one of their only reliable and marketable big-league talents on their roster, not to mention someone being counted on to serve as a mentor to the next wave of pitching talent. 

Both of those outcomes would have been very bad regardless of their future plans for him.  So back to the question: yes, it was worth it to bring him back this season because not bringing him back would've most certainly not been worth it.

[farmerguychris]

13 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

By this logic the Twins should not field a team at all for the rest of the year.  Can't get hurt if you just forfeit the games.  

I'm pretty sure you shouldn't give this idea to ownership.  Can't lose money when you don't have any players either.

[IndianaTwin]

Yeah, it was worth it, because then we didn't get subjected to a "Pablo Lopez Is Injured, But He Should Have Worked Harder to Come Back This Season" article.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. 

[Woof Bronzer]

18 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

  Ryan's value is at an all time high.  Lopez is at about the lowest he's ever been. 

I don't know about this.  Ryan has showed yet again that he is not capable of handling the rigors of a full MLB season.  He's a first half pitcher.  This is a conundrum for a contending team - you're not going to give away the farm for a starter who won't be in your playoff rotation.  Plus we have seen Joe's immaturity flare up on many occasions the last couple months, which doesn't make him evil, but he's 30 years old and still melts down after a bad call.  I'd say his value isn't "ace" but rather "#4 or 5 starter".  

Lopez on the other hand exerted more defensive effort on one play than I've seen any Twin actually paid to play defense this year, in a meaningless game.  Serious, winning organizations care about that sort of thing.  

[jjswol]

Pablo made it very clear he wanted to come and prove that he was healthy going in to the off-season. Injuries happen.

[gman]

Now that he ended his season injured, even it is not considered a serious injury, that will make it much harder to trade him this winter. That's good news and could facilitate him pitching for the Twins next year.

[CRF]

Of course. He was just fine until the belly flop dive toward 1st base. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

2 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I don't know about this.  Ryan has showed yet again that he is not capable of handling the rigors of a full MLB season.  He's a first half pitcher.  This is a conundrum for a contending team - you're not going to give away the farm for a starter who won't be in your playoff rotation.  Plus we have seen Joe's immaturity flare up on many occasions the last couple months, which doesn't make him evil, but he's 30 years old and still melts down after a bad call.  I'd say his value isn't "ace" but rather "#4 or 5 starter".  

Lopez on the other hand exerted more defensive effort on one play than I've seen any Twin actually paid to play defense this year, in a meaningless game.  Serious, winning organizations care about that sort of thing.  

I agree, although I would say Ryan is a solid 2/strong 3 starter not a 4 or 5. I’d like to keep both but he’s the one to trade if you’re going to trade one from a baseball perspective. Given Ryan’s relatively low salary, the smart move is see how the first half goes and trade at the deadline if we’re out of it. 

[Hrbeks Divot]

No issue whatsoever with Pablo coming back to pitch this year. As laid out by other comments and your own article, the injuries were totally unrelated. He’s one of the few remaining leaders on the team. Regardless of whether his remaining starts could be used as a showcase for an offseason trade, he wanted to be out there and was healthy enough to pitch. He stepped up as a leader and led.

[Patzky]

2 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I don't know about this.  Ryan has showed yet again that he is not capable of handling the rigors of a full MLB season.  He's a first half pitcher.  This is a conundrum for a contending team - you're not going to give away the farm for a starter who won't be in your playoff rotation.  Plus we have seen Joe's immaturity flare up on many occasions the last couple months, which doesn't make him evil, but he's 30 years old and still melts down after a bad call.  I'd say his value isn't "ace" but rather "#4 or 5 starter".  

Lopez on the other hand exerted more defensive effort on one play than I've seen any Twin actually paid to play defense this year, in a meaningless game.  Serious, winning organizations care about that sort of thing.  

Joe might be the better arm but Pablo is the better pitcher and better for the team's success.  Similar to the Rocco lost the team talk, has Joe also lost the team?  Let's see what happens this winter.

.

[purplesoldier4u]

If I owned the Twins, Pablo and Ryan are not traded. A team with two solid starters, Buxton, and a maturing Lewis and Lee could provide a shot at a .500 record. However, if they drop out of contention by the 2026 deadline, start unloading everyone.

This team absolutely cannot start next season with the always overrated Ober as their number one! That would be a death knell for the season, attendance, and ratings. Let's face it, the Pohlad ownership deserves everything they are receiving, but I still want to hopeful for 2026.

[Doctor Gast]

2 hours ago, gman said:

Now that he ended his season injured, even it is not considered a serious injury, that will make it much harder to trade him this winter. That's good news and could facilitate him pitching for the Twins next year.

Agreed, very good news that he shouldn't be traded. Still that isn't negating the fact that Twins wanted him back before the season to show he's healthy before the offseason. I choose to believe that Lopez wanted to come back because he's a competitive player, not because he wanted to be traded. (But as I state it, it sounds less likely the case). Nevertheless, what's done is done. & happy in what seems like he'll stay. The season is shot either way.

[TwinsDr2021]

Maybe the Twin should sit Keaschall we don't want his BA to end up under .300.

[DJL44]

6 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

By this logic the Twins should not field a team at all for the rest of the year.  Can't get hurt if you just forfeit the games.  

Probably next year as well, since nobody thinks they can be a contender.

[Doctor Wu]

Like most everyone else has said, I don't think that the team had to think twice about letting Lopez get out there and pitch again after his rehab stint.  He's ready, so send him out there. Sure, it's a lost season, but he's one of the team leaders and I think his positive attitude can be a huge plus for the team going forward. 

[HrbieFan]

22 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Seriously?

This is a new low for TD articles. 

 

Thought the same, nothing but a click bait crap article 

[Trov]

It is not just about the Twins bringing him back, but they have to deal with the players union for intentionally not playing a guy.  It was not a service time issue, but a numbers issue.  If the Twins do not play a healthy player the union would have a fit, because Lopez will be looking for another contract and if they tried to use well look at how low your numbers were in 2025 season, they union would be like well you did not play him.  Also, not sure if there are incentives in his contract he could have tried to reach. 

[David Maro]

This is a 4th place team with a dozen games left at the time he came back. Pitchers only have so many pitches to throw before injuries start to happen. He should have been put on the shelf until ST.

[Diane]

I totally agree!  It did nothing for him or the team to bring him back too early.  Now it has set him back with less progress before spring training starts again.