Minnesota Twins Blame A’s Ballpark for Injuring Star Players

The Minnesota Twins just completed the longest road trip of their season, and it will surely go down as one of the more interesting as well. Not only did they start in Tampa Bay and finish in Sacramento, but they played two of their three series in minor league ballparks.

Tampa Bay is playing their home games at the Yankees’ spring training stadium Steinbrenner Field, after Tropicana Field was shredded by Hurricane Milton. Across the country, the orphan Athletics are playing at Sutter Health Park, home of the River Cats, a minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

Although the Twins only noted nuances like wind patterns and a lack of upper deck capacity as outliers for the Rays facility, the Athletics facilities earned multiple thumbs down. And they claim the issues went beyond just big leaguers used to the amenities MLB facilities provide that these temporary homes did not.

Joe Ryan calls out Athletics field for injuring Pablo Lopez

Pablo Lopez was pitching against the Athletics on Tuesday and left the game in the 6th inning with grade two Teres Major strain that’s going to cost him multiple months. It’s the same injury Joe Ryan suffered for last season.

After Pablo’s lower-shoulder strain was diagnosed, and his elongated return timeline was handed down, Ryan — who pitched in Sacramento the day before Lopez — talked to Dan Hayes (The Athletic) about what role he thinks the mound in Sacramento might have played in his teammate’s injury.

“The first thing I thought of was Wheeler saying, ‘I was all arm when I was here. Does that play into that? Someone was mentioning it. We’re in the big leagues, and we have these amenities for a reason. It’s to get prepared and go inside if you need to for a second. Whatever your routine is, you can’t do that here. You can’t do that in Tampa. As (Lopez’s) teammate, it makes it sting a little bit more. I don’t think Pablo is the kind of guy that’s going to say (the mound was the issue), but I’ll say it.”

Joe Ryan – via The Athletic

Pablo Lopez pulled himself out of the game with an injury after one warmup pitch before the 6th inning pic.twitter.com/RFV5qIPYoR

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 4, 2025

Joe Ryan allowed four runs on six hits and went just five innings, in his start against the Athletics. For a guy that came in with a 2.57 ERA (3.20 FIP), it was among one of the worst outings of his season. There are few people capable of qualifying the quality of a pitching surface more than someone who had just started on the same mound one day prior.

Related: Rocco Baldelli Shines Light on Timing of Pablo Lopez Injury

Athletics free agent acquisition Luis Severino — who has a 6.99 ERA in eight home starts (46.1 IP) with just a 0.87 ERA in five road starts (31.0 IP) — has been critical of his home field situation all season. Phillies starter Zack Wheeler had some opinions on the matter earlier this year too.

Did the batter’s box in Sacramento cause Carlos Correa’s injury?

Carlos Correa returned from the concussion list on May 23, against Kansas City. He played 10 straight games, before sitting out the last two games against the Athletics. When he was scratched from the lineup before Wednesday’s game, the diagnosis was “back tightness”.

He did not beat around the bush after the A’s series, claiming directly that the batter’s box in Sacramento caused his back pain. Carlos was out of the lineup again Friday, back at home against the Blue Jays.

“It’s the worst box I’ve ever stepped in. I like (the park). The ball travels very well. The facilities are good. They did it right. The plate is the only problem. … I’m not going to sacrifice two months of my season because of a couple of at-bats here.”

“The [batter’s box] here is killing me right now. It’s very slippery. … For us that play with moldings, it’s a tough time getting grip on the plate, but it’s better than your feet hurting.”

Carlos Correa – via The Athletic

Correa wears a molded version of Shohei Ohtani’s New Balance Ohtani 1 baseball cleat. The lack of metal spikes are a benefit to his feet, which suffer from plantar fasciitis, a chronic issue that has cost him months of playing time time over the past two seasons.

Related: Minnesota Twins Promoting Travis Adams for MLB Debut

There are no two places on a big league field more impactful than the pitching mound and batter’s box. Major League Baseball allowing the Athletics to play on a subpar playing surface, with the health of multi-million dollar athletes at stake, is wild.