Another Ace Injured: Joe Ryan Leaves Start With Elbow Soreness

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins did not have to wait long to feel the weight of Sunday’s matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays. Just two batters into the game, Joe Ryan was walking off the mound and heading toward the clubhouse, leaving behind more questions than answers.

Ryan struck out the first hitter he faced and appeared to be settling in. However, after issuing a walk to Toronto third baseman Kazuma Okamoto on his ninth pitch, the right-hander signaled to the dugout. Moments later, his day was done. The Twins quickly announced that Ryan exited with right elbow soreness, a phrase that immediately grabs attention for any pitcher.

“He walked out and said he felt something in his elbow,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said during an in-game interview. “It’s unfortunate, especially this early in the game, but it’s something we’ve got to deal with. Hopefully Joe’s in a good spot.”

Back on February 21, Ryan was forced out of what was supposed to be his first spring outing due to lower back tightness. He worked his way back by March 10, made three spring starts, and did not miss a turn once the regular season began. Until now, durability has been one of Ryan’s calling cards.

Over the course of his career, Ryan has quietly been one of the more reliable starters in the league. He has averaged 27.5 starts and 153.6 innings per season, consistently taking the ball every fifth day. There have been minor bumps along the way, including back inflammation, a minor shoulder injury, and a groin issue he attempted to pitch through in previous seasons, but nothing that significantly derailed his availability.

That reliability has been paired with strong performance in 2026. Entering Sunday, Ryan owned a 3.76 ERA with a 118 ERA+ and a 1.04 WHIP. His underlying numbers painted an even more encouraging picture. A 25.2% strikeout rate paired with just a 5.8% walk rate highlights his command, and a 2.99 FIP suggests he has pitched better than his ERA indicates.

All of that makes this early exit feel even heavier. The Twins are not just losing innings if Ryan misses time. They are potentially losing one of the most stable and effective arms in their rotation.

In the immediate aftermath, Andrew Morris was asked to pick up the pieces out of the bullpen. Morris has been operating in a long-relief role, a somewhat awkward middle ground for a pitcher who many believed was next in line for a rotation spot. If Ryan is sidelined, Morris could be stretched back out into a starting role, though that transition is rarely seamless.

Beyond Morris, the Twins do have reinforcements, but each comes with its own level of uncertainty. Mick Abel is nearing a return from the injured list and had been off to an impressive start before going down. Zebby Matthews, already on the 40-man roster, endured early struggles this season but has begun to show signs of progress. Kendry Rojas, who debuted earlier this year in a relief capacity, has been building back up as a starter after missing time.

None of those options fully replace what Ryan provides when he is right. That is what makes the coming days so critical for Minnesota. Elbow soreness can mean many things, ranging from precautionary rest to something far more serious. The Twins will be hoping this leans toward the former.

For now, the focus shifts from Sunday’s game to the status of one of their most important pitchers. The Twins have navigated adversity before, but losing Ryan for any stretch would test their depth in a significant way.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

 

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[Riverbrian]

I'll wait for word. 

Actually I won't wait for word. If its good news or bad news... it doesn't matter. The concern expressed in the  off-season remains true regardless of the results of whatever they are checking out. 

Keeping Joe Ryan to go for it... was very risky and the risk was significant trade value wasted. The nightmare scenario was an injury that erases his trade value. 

I'll wait for word. 

 

[Patzky]

It's so relieving that a season in which we lost Pablo Lopez and now potentially Joe Ryan was one in which we weren't expected to be competitive.

 

Can you imagine if this happened in the middle of a pennant race..

[jorgenswest]

After the 1986 season the Twins took a risk in keeping Viola instead of trading him with two years of control. So foolish for a last place team to take such a risk. Why not trade him at his peak value? They probably should have traded Gaetti annd Brunansky also.

Note: The Twins did extend Viola for two years but that wasn’t until after the 1987 World Series.

[bean5302]

2 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

After the 1986 season the Twins took a risk in keeping Viola instead of trading him with two years of control. So foolish for a last place team to take such a risk. Why not trade him at his peak value? 

Note: The Twins did extend Viola for two years but that wasn’t until after the 1987 World Series.

and the 1989 Twins let Viola walk at the deadline only to win the World Series in 1991 again. Why would they do such a thing?!

The 1989 Twins had a solid, inexpensive, projectable core. So did the 1986 Twins. The 2026 Twins? Nope.

[JD-TWINS]

4 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

and the 1989 Twins let Viola walk at the deadline only to win the World Series in 1991 again.

😉

[bean5302]

Here's hoping Ryan just has inflammation, although that seems like an longshot. To suddenly have a pop or something in the elbow at the start of the game? Does not look good.

The Twins have shown exactly why you either commit to building a winner or you rebuild for the next window.

Also, a huge loss for Ryan as he was likely going to be making big dollars this coming season.

[nicksaviking]

9 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

and the 1989 Twins let Viola walk at the deadline only to win the World Series in 1991 again.

The Twins famously dealt Viola for Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera and David West who helped the team win the 1991 World Series. 

And the collusion era was a different era of baseball. The Twins could have afforded to retain Viola, just as they were able to afford to make Kirby Puckett the highest paid player, and Jack Morris the highest paid pitcher at one point.

[bean5302]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

The Twins famously dealt Viola for Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera and David West who helped the team win the 1991 World Series. 

And this was a different era of baseball. The Twins could have afforded to retain Viola, just as they were able to afford to make Kirby Puckett the highest paid player, and Jack Morris the highest paid pitcher at one point.

I am aware.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

Keeping Joe Ryan to go for it... was very risky and the risk was significant trade value wasted. The nightmare scenario was an injury that erases his trade value. 

Don't forget Pablo Lopez who's trade value is now erased missing most of 2025 and all of 2026. Tom Pohlad probably doesn't realize it, but his decision to reverse course this winter extended the rebuild by another year or 3. 

[CRF]

Nothing but bad luck and misfortune...over and over again. Cursed. 

[Woof Bronzer]

50 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

After the 1986 season the Twins took a risk in keeping Viola instead of trading him with two years of control. So foolish for a last place team to take such a risk. Why not trade him at his peak value? They probably should have traded Gaetti annd Brunansky also.

Note: The Twins did extend Viola for two years but that wasn’t until after the 1987 World Series.

And then they won the Series again in 91 using the pieces they gained in trading Viola a couple years later.  

This roster is in no danger of winning a World Series, much less 2 in 4 years.  

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this situation is juuuuuuuuust a bit different than your scenario.  

[terrydactyls]

6 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

And then they won the Series again in 91 using the pieces they gained in trading Viola a couple years later. 

Did the Twins have a time machine?  It sounds like they traded Viola a couple of years after the '91 season, got some useful pieces in the trade, and then traveled back in time to use those pieces in '91.  I must have missed that maneuver.

[Riverbrian]

27 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Don't forget Pablo Lopez who's trade value is now erased missing most of 2025 and all of 2026. Tom Pohlad probably doesn't realize it, but his decision to reverse course this winter extended the rebuild by another year or 3. 

Agreed.

However personally my opinion... which is just that. I wasn't as concerned about Pablo. His contract 21.75 per year for the next two years would have lowered his value and therefore the return... and I assume fairly significantly. 

Compared to Ryan and who I assume would make 19 Million combined for the next two years.  

I have no way of knowing but I have assumed that Joe Ryan would have fetched a Top 25 prospect.

Losing that trade value... in my mind is like losing Walker Jenkins because I think Joe Ryan could have returned a Walker Jenkins level ball player. 

If this is Tommy John... the cost isn't a winning season. A winning season was a question mark even with Joe Ryan fronting the rotation. The cost is a player of Walker Jenkins type future. 

Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers were the two players that they should have been cashed in because the value of those two was as high as it would get. Ryan Jeffers returns less as a two month rental. Joe Ryan returns less at a year and half. 

The Pablo Lopez value if he remained healthy had a chance to go up with 21 million taken off the books. 

Anyway... I thought that they should have continued what they started at the trade deadline. 

They didn't... and Joe Ryan TJ is the nightmare scenerio.  

  

[bean5302]

11 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Did the Twins have a time machine?  It sounds like they traded Viola a couple of years after the '91 season, got some useful pieces in the trade, and then traveled back in time to use those pieces in '91.  I must have missed that maneuver.

Viola was not part of the 1991 team, he was traded a couple years after the 1987 World Series team. 

[Woof Bronzer]

Obviously one couldn't KNOW that both Lopez and Ryan were going to get hurt, but given the demands of the modern game and past history with injuries, the risk should have been known.

Tough Talkin' Tom is proving to be the least competent Pohlad yet.  Under Jim the Twins operated on a continuous five-year-plan,  always planning for a future that never came.  Terry Ryan actually had a philosophy that reflected the market in which he was operating:  focus on defense, solid bullpens and contact starters that let the defense do their thing.  These things are affordable and the Twins weren't trying to compete with larger payroll teams for expensive skills like slugging.

Joey didn't really have a plan, the Twins were a toy or a strat-o-matic game to keep him preoccupied from ruining other Pohlad businesses.  He's the only Pohlad who has shown any interest in spending money to win.  It was only when the elder Pohlads discovered that he had financially mismanaged the organization so badly they couldn't sell the team that he was removed.

T3 operates on a one year plan, and that is to make as much money as possible to clean up the books, pay back their investor loans, and sell the team.  There's no future view, very little baseball consideration at all in fact.  Of course he wasn't going to trade Lopez or Ryan, because he thought they would boost attendance.  Trading either of them for future value likely never crossed his mind; "future value" is a dirty word to people like T3.  "Future value" doesn't buy you that 3rd yacht you've been eyeing.  

Pros and cons to each Pohlad, but Tom's shortsightedness is going to set back the baseball operations for years if Ryan is indeed hurt.  

[Woof Bronzer]

25 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Did the Twins have a time machine?  It sounds like they traded Viola a couple of years after the '91 season, got some useful pieces in the trade, and then traveled back in time to use those pieces in '91.  I must have missed that maneuver.

Do you have a computer?  Is it connected to the internet?  If so, you can use a "search engine", such as Google to look things up and make sure you don't sound silly before posting. 

[Linus]

This organization has been rudderless for a decade. To blow it up at the deadline last year, eliminating any realistic chance of competing but hang on to Ryan, Lopez and Jeffers when they have limited team control is the height of stupidity. They aren’t winning this year and they took two incredibly valuable assets and turned them into nothing. The inevitable rebuild just got lengthened by 2-3 years. 

[JBK]

1 hour ago, terrydactyls said:

Did the Twins have a time machine?  It sounds like they traded Viola a couple of years after the '91 season, got some useful pieces in the trade, and then traveled back in time to use those pieces in '91.  I must have missed that maneuver.

Viola was traded 31 July 89

[amjgt]

Silly random question, but isn't Joe Ryan required to go on the IL now, since he didn't face 3 batters?

It's probably moot because he will anyway, but just something I thought about. 

[terrydactyls]

3 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Do you have a computer?  Is it connected to the internet?  If so, you can use a "search engine", such as Google to look things up and make sure you don't sound silly before posting. 

I was commenting on the impossibility for the statement to be true as written,  The sentence structure implies that the Viola trade was two years after the 1991  World Series.  No need for you to be so condescending.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, Linus said:

This organization has been rudderless for a decade. To blow it up at the deadline last year, eliminating any realistic chance of competing but hang on to Ryan, Lopez and Jeffers when they have limited team control is the height of stupidity. They aren’t winning this year and they took two incredibly valuable assets and turned them into nothing. The inevitable rebuild just got lengthened by 2-3 years. 

Totally agree that the Twins had a real opportunity to make some dynamic trades last October and November. What none of us can know is whether any teams made any offers worth listening to. How did the front offices around MLB view the Twins front office and players?

While I made a number of suggested trades using various players, nothing was done and I have moved on. Any time one of us makes a trade suggestion, we are just goofing around. There is very little realism to our thoughts. Cheap internal entertainment. Often these don't actually even work out and at other times various Twins Daily members respond harshly to ideas as well. 

I'm not reliving Derek Falvey any more. While the opportunities available in my eyes in October 2023 were interesting and promising, we still have most of the players I was willing and wanted to trade.

Time to hope that the next group steps forward sooner than later.

[Major League Ready]

6 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Agreed.

However personally my opinion... which is just that. I wasn't as concerned about Pablo. His contract 21.75 per year for the next two years would have lowered his value and therefore the return... and I assume fairly significantly. 

Compared to Ryan and who I assume would make 19 Million combined for the next two years.  

I have no way of knowing but I have assumed that Joe Ryan would have fetched a Top 25 prospect.

Losing that trade value... in my mind is like losing Walker Jenkins because I think Joe Ryan could have returned a Walker Jenkins level ball player. 

If this is Tommy John... the cost isn't a winning season. A winning season was a question mark even with Joe Ryan fronting the rotation. The cost is a player of Walker Jenkins type future. 

Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers were the two players that they should have been cashed in because the value of those two was as high as it would get. Ryan Jeffers returns less as a two month rental. Joe Ryan returns less at a year and half. 

The Pablo Lopez value if he remained healthy had a chance to go up with 21 million taken off the books. 

Anyway... I thought that they should have continued what they started at the trade deadline. 

They didn't... and Joe Ryan TJ is the nightmare scenerio.  

  

I just want to acknowledge this is not hindsight on your part.  You had this stance of few months ago when many of us pointed out the foolishness of taking this risk given the state of the roster, especially given their unwillingness to spend.  The direction taken by ownership could end up being very costly for several years.  The Walker Jenkin parallel is an adept comparison and they would have gotten a 2nd good prospect as well.

Given ownership dropped payroll again, I would have liked to see them at least shop Pablo.  I think they could have gotten a good prospect had they absorbed $20M of his remaining salary like STL did with Sonny Gray..  Then, I would have liked to see them spend $15M which would have basically been a wash in terms of annual salary if you consider what they spent on Rogers / Banda.  I think RPs are the worst free agent investment.  However, we had nothing left in the bullpen after the deadline and those assets are the easiest to move at the deadline.

[jorgenswest]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

and the 1989 Twins let Viola walk at the deadline only to win the World Series in 1991 again. Why would they do such a thing?!

The 1989 Twins had a solid, inexpensive, projectable core. So did the 1986 Twins. The 2026 Twins? Nope.

Wouldn’t that 1989 trade be a parallel to a Lopez trade? Viola was now among the highest paid pitchers. You could conceivably take those prospects and then use that money to add a starter in free agency.

 

[mickster]

Tigers ace Skubal is having elbow surgery.   After the record Arbitration, he may be looking at a smaller FA contract in the off season, or the Tigers lost a potential trade piece as well.    Just pointing out that for a pitcher in today's baseball it is more a matter of when you will have surgery, not if.

[Vanimal46]

46 minutes ago, mickster said:

Tigers ace Skubal is having elbow surgery.   After the record Arbitration, he may be looking at a smaller FA contract in the off season, or the Tigers lost a potential trade piece as well.    Just pointing out that for a pitcher in today's baseball it is more a matter of when you will have surgery, not if.

Skubal will still get the largest pitching contract in MLB history this upcoming winter I'd guess. It's arthroscopic surgery vs. full blown Tommy John... And the way teams like LAD will think of it, Skubal got his rehab done on Detroit's time, not theirs.