It’s Time for the Twins to Call-Up Olympic Star, Joe Ryan

The Minnesota Twins traded away Nelson Cruz before the 2021 MLB trade deadline and the only thing surprising about the transaction was the impressive pitching haul Falvine got in return. The deal centered around two near-MLB-ready starting pitching prospects. Joe Ryan, who was anchoring team USA’s silver medal run in Tokyo at the time, was one of those hurlers.

The 25-yr-old, former 7th-round pick (2018) could oftentimes be seen absolutely dominating Israeli and Korean hitters during his stint in Tokyo. When the gold medal game completed and the baseball confetti fell on the Japan, Ryan dawned the 2nd-place medal along with his 10.1 IP, 9 H, 2 R and 8 K’s through his two starts.

Welcome to St. Paul

Falvine sent Joe Ryan to St Paul when he finished his Olympic duties. Clearly, nobody told Joe about a possible adjustment period being necessary after immediately relocating upon his return. Ryan quickly settled into the Saints rotation, completely dominating the competition in both of his two outings. He must really like the Twin Cities area.

Mark Contreras drills a 2-run homer to right, his 13th of the season, lead 2-1 bottom 6. Joe Ryan's night is done going 5.0 IP allowing 1 run and striking out 8. He has fanned 17 of 34 batters he's faced. If he had a 10 year MLB career, that would be on pace to K 10,643.

— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) August 26, 2021

Joe Ryan impressed in his @StPaulSaints debut.

The @Twins’ No. 6 prospect fanned 9 over 4 IP, striking out the first 6 batters he faced. pic.twitter.com/ZEzjWUAkz9

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 21, 2021

Here's Joe Ryan striking out 2020 No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson. pic.twitter.com/k4bf0LE2H6

— Tom Froemming (@TFTwins) August 25, 2021

It’s time.

In case you were wondering who the MLB career strikeout leader is. after reading the Saints official tweet from above; The answer is Nolan Ryan, who struck out 5,714 hitters during his legendary career. Nolan pitched for 27 seasons in the big leagues, from 1966 to 1993.

Not only should the Twins call-up their newest star prospect, but the MiLB should force them to pull him up for competitive reasons. Joe Ryan fanning every other hitter he faces (17/34) should be illegal. It’s not fair to other teams trying to raise young players, who aren’t yet ready for that kind of big league stuff.

The next time Joe Ryan takes a mound, it should be in an MLB ballpark and he should be wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform. Take advantage of his all-time high confidence and save the psyche of these AAA hitters in the process.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan