Joe Ryan Had a "Clean MRI" Sunday, Will Throw Bullpen Wednesday

[Matthew Trueblood]

Joe Ryan's MRI Sunday came back clean, a Twins source confirmed to Twins Daily Tuesday. As first reported by Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Ryan played catch Tuesday and will throw a bullpen session Wednesday, after which the team will evaluate when he might make his next start. 

Ryan left his last start Sunday after just two batters faced, with what the team called "elbow soreness". His scan revealed no damage to his UCL, but until he gets back onto a mound and pitches pain-free, the next steps in getting him back into the starting rotation will not become clear. Wednesday is the last day on which the team can make an injured list stint retroactive to Sunday, so the bullpen session will be important. If it goes well (and Ryan recovers from it well), the team might choose to skate by without placing him on the injured list. If, however, there's any lingering discomfort, a stint on the IL is likely.

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[Linus]

Great news. Hopefully he stays healthy going forward so the option of trading him at the deadline is available. Bullet dodged. 

[Vanimal46]

Best possible outcome. It would have been a disaster losing him for an extended period of time 

[Patzky]

This is unexpected great news. I hope Joe comes through the week alright! Would it be too protective to have him do a bullpen stint of a few innings this weekend vs a start?

[HerbieFan]

As a 58-year old, beaten down Minnesota sports fan, I'm not even sure how to respond to this.  I'm SO used to the worst-case, this just doesn't even seem possible! :)

[strumdatjag]

Hurray.  Joe said he wasn’t up front about an injury a few years ago and learned his lesson.   This is big news.  Now move SWT to bullpen, maybe put Zebby there too. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Phew. Sigh of relief. 

[Mike Sixel]

Great news

[nicksaviking]

Tigers thinking about their ace

[Twins GFP]

14 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

As a 58-year old, beaten down Minnesota sports fan, I'm not even sure how to respond to this.  I'm SO used to the worst-case, this just doesn't even seem possible! :)

Chalk this up as the exception to the rule.

However... he hasn't thrown yet, so there is still time...

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Rotation: Ryan / Bradley / Ober / Abel / Prielipp 

Bullpen: Morris / SWR / Festa / Zebby / Klein / Fundy / Banda / Topa 

I'd like to see that pitching staff get a look at some point - when health allows. 

[jorgenswest]

He still needs to throw from the mound.

In any case the only way the Twins are going to get prime years from players is to at least keep them through their 5th year. They are signing premium players in free agency. If they trade Ryan after 4 years they really only get one premium season from him. In his second full season he want trusted in the playoffs. He was injured his third season. 

Maybe it isn’t the only way. If they are going to trade players with two years of service left then they better maximize the first four. They can do this by keeping players in AAA using options so that they are as close as possible to their prime. They will still need to adjust but maybe you get another premium season. Does it make sense to both advocate to start the service clock early and then advocate for trading with multiple seasons of control?

The Marlins are the team that trade with 2 or more full seasons of service time. Maybe it will work for them.

[Dman]

7 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Chalk this up as the exception to the rule.

However... he hasn't thrown yet, so there is still time...

Yeah I am not convinced there isn't a problem yet.  Velocity has been down, pulls himself from the game due to soreness.  I am happy the imaging came back clean, but things still look dicey to me.

[SteveLV]

Bullet. Dodged.

Very happy for him.  Very happy for the Twins.

Still think he needs to be either extended or traded.

[Dave Borton]

Elbows scare me no matter how "clean" the imaging appears to be.

[jmlease1]

19 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

Hurray.  Joe said he wasn’t up front about an injury a few years ago and learned his lesson.   This is big news.  Now move SWT to bullpen, maybe put Zebby there too. 

Yeah, I'd much rather he say something and it turns out to be nothing than him keep it to himself, play through it, and then it turns into something. Players can't be trusted to keep themselves safe; I'm pretty sure that Byron Buxton could lose a limb to a combine harvester and he'd still say he'd be able to play the next day if someone would just give him some duct tape.

Hopefully this was a weird twinge or he just needed a skip in the rotation and he'll be feeling fine after throwing a bullpen or something.

[JD-TWINS]

5 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Rotation: Ryan / Bradley / Ober / Abel / Prielipp 

Bullpen: Morris / SWR / Festa / Zebby / Klein / Fundy / Banda / Topa 

I'd like to see that pitching staff get a look at some point - when health allows. 

I guess I’m going to assume “somebody” needs to be the back-up starter (Abel - Ryan - Prielipp) are all very fragile in relation to 25 more starts each.

I like Rojas in PEN with Zebby remaining in the wings…… prior to season starting I was hoping they’d use Zebby as the Closer - SO, I guess we agree that it would be good, with assumed starter health, that we’d like to see the Team use young arms to clean up the Bullpen.

After looking at this - in fairness to the organization, this would have been a good look as the ultimate PEN …….. assuming Lopez would be in the rotation & Sands would be in the PEN!

MAYBE - with Prielipp’s history, Zebby goes into rotation and Prielipp throws 1+ innings 2-3 times per week?