Pablo Lopez Injury Update is Not Good News for MN Twins

The Minnesota Twins won their second-straight game on Tuesday night against the hapless and orphaned Athletics, who currently playing their home games at Sutter Health Park, a minor league ballpark in Sacramento.

Outside of a few complaints over the lack of amenities at their temporary “stadium” — which has a maximum capacity of just 14,000 fans, an imperfect playing surface, and clubhouses that are in the outfield — the start of their four-game series against the Athletics has gone quite well.

After the Twins struggled to score runs in their last two series against the Rays and Mariners, Byron Buxton (4/10, 7 RBI), Trevor Larnach (4/10, HR, 2 RBI), Willi Castro (4/8, 2 HR, 2 RBI) and the boys have put up 20 runs in just two games against the A’s, to their 7.

Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows on the west coast this week. Before the 6th inning of Tuesday’s game in Sacramento, Pablo Lopez went out to warm up for what we thought would be another three outs of duty. Through 5 innings, the Minnesota Twins ace had allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Pablo Lopez likely heading to Minnesota Twins injured list

After throwing a few warm-ups, though, Pablo called for trainer Nick Paparesta, before the two walked out to the outfield and into the Twins clubhouse. His teammates would go on to rally for nine runs and a win vs the A’s.

It became evident early that Lopez was heading for the injured list. When the official news broke late Wednesday night, however, it was worse than originally expected. Lopez’ injury is a grade two Teres Major strain, which will put Pablo on the shelf for two to three months.

MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain of the Teres Major in the right shoulder of Pablo López.
Expected to be out 8-12 weeks.#MNTwins

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) June 5, 2025

Teres major (TM) is a small muscle that runs along the lateral border of the scapula. It is one of the seven scapulohumeral muscles that act around the glenohumeral joint to facilitate shoulder movement^[1].^[2] It’s sometimes called “lat’s little helper” because of its synergistic action with the latissimus dorsi.^[3]

Isolated tears of the teres major are quite uncommon, but may occur in baseball or cricket players, especially pitchers and bowlers^[8]. The main symptom of a teres major tear is a sudden sharp pain in the shoulder, upper arm and armpit.

physio-pedia.com

This is the same injury Joe Ryan suffered last season. For Ryan, it was diagnosed a 7-8 week injury. At the time, the Minnesota Twins were still in the playoff race. Even had they made the postseason, it’s unlikely Joe would have pitched. The timeline placed on Lopez gives them a lot more time.

The Minnesota Twins have relied on their pitching to dig them out of the 7-15 hole they dug themselves into, to start the season. Pablo leads a staff that ranks 6th in the MLB in ERA (3.32), 4th in ERA+ (125), 2nd in FIP (3.43) and 3rd in WHIP (1.159). Now, they need their bats to come alive.

Related: Minnesota Twins No. 1 Prospect is Finally Back

Losing Pablo Lopez, who along with Joe Ryan has carried the starting rotation for much of this season, will hurt. The Twins have already recalled David Festa from Triple-A St. Paul, to fill in for their ace while he is out.

Festa pitched three games in Lopez’ absence earlier this year, posting a 1.38 ERA, 1.308 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in 13 big league innings. At Triple-A St. Paul, the 25-year-old out of Seton Hall has a 2.83 ERA, 0.977 WHIP and 111 ERA+ in 28.2 innings pitched (10.7 K/9).