Joe Ryan Hoping To Avoid Injured List; No Structural Damage In Elbow

The Twins received good news on star right-hander Joe Ryan after he exited his most recent start in the first inning due to elbow pain. An MRI taken revealed no structural damage, the team told its beat (link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Ryan is planning to throw a bullpen today and may not even require a trip to the injured list.

Alarm bells sounded during Ryan’s most recent start, when he lasted only nine pitches before departing with a trainer. The right-hander himself explained that he felt some discomfort that he hasn’t experienced in the past on multiple pitches. Since it was in his elbow, he took the cautious approach of signaling for a trainer. The Twins, understandably, did not take any chances.

Time will tell if Ryan is completely out of the woods. He’s already played catch. Today’s bullpen session will be informative. However, even if he requires a brief trip to the 15-day IL, that’s a far better outcome than the one for which most Twins fans (and presumably Twins brass) were bracing.

Ryan, 29, has been one of the steadier pitchers in the American League since making his debut back in 2021, after the Twins acquired him from the Rays in exchange for Nelson Cruz. He’s made 123 appearances — all but one of them starts —  and posted a 3.79 ERA with a strong 27.5% strikeout rate and an excellent 5.7% walk rate. He’s a fly-ball pitcher who lacks premium velocity, which has always made him a bit homer-prone, but Ryan’s ability to avoid walks and miss bats in the zone has helped him limit the damage nonetheless.

The Twins control Ryan through the 2027 season. He’s earning $6.2MM this year and is owed one more raise in arbitration. (This year’s deal has a mutual option on it, but that’ll very likely be declined by one side, and the two parties will reconvene to negotiate a new price for his final arb season.)

Minnesota entered the season widely expected to be one of the least-competitive teams in the league. They’ve outperformed expectations, to an extent, thanks to big strides from younger players like Austin Martin, Brooks Lee and especially Taj Bradley, while veterans Trevor Larnach and Ryan Jeffers have had resurgent performances. Byron Buxton has been terrific, homering 11 times in 33 games.

Those positive developments notwithstanding, the Twins’ decision not to invest anything meaningful in the bullpen after tearing down the relief corps and trading away their five best relievers last summer has left them with a sub-.500 record. Minnesota relievers rank 28th in the majors in ERA (5.26), 29th in strikeout rate (18.3%) and 21st in walk rate (10.9%). Only three teams (Mets, Red Sox, Angels) have a lower average fastball from their relievers.

The Twins play in baseball’s worst division, so their 16-20 record leaves them only 1.5 games out of first place, trailing a Tigers club that just lost ace Tarik Skubal to a monthslong absence. Perhaps that’ll be enough to keep all five AL Central teams in relative contention into the summer, but Ryan still stands as an obvious potential trade chip in light of last summer’s fire sale and some ownership turmoil that has left the team with a payroll about $50MM shy of its 2023 peak. Getting a clean bill of health on his right elbow both gives the Twins a better chance at making an improbable contention run and preserves most of the trade value for a veteran arm who’ll be their top deadline chip if they sell for a second straight summer.