How Long Will Joe Ryan be out of Minnesota Twins’ Rotation?

Joe Ryan
Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Twins are tracking towards chasing down the Cleveland Guardians. They will be tasked to do so without the services of Joe Ryan. Rocco Baldelli’s ace was lifted from his last start. The initial hope would that the absence was going to be brief. That is no longer a reality.

Joe Ryan has a lengthy timeline for the Minnesota Twins

Initially diagnosed as triceps tendinitis, Joe Ryan underwent an MRI on Thursday. It revealed a grade 2 teres major strain. The teres major don’t impact the rotator cuff. That is good news. Ryan, who called for trainer Nick Paparesta during his start, knew something was wrong. The severity of the injury is much more significant and will require him to miss multiple weeks, and likely months.

A six-to-eight week timeline would be a tough blow for the Twins. Just seven weeks remain in the regular season. A shutdown that long could also rule out any possibility that Ryan could ramp back up for the postseason. The injury takes on a greater hurt with the reality that Minnesota has failed to grab starting pitcher help since they let Sonny Gray walk this offseason.

Minnesota Twins react to Joe Ryan’s injury

The Twins know what they lose in Joe Ryan. Not only does he have a 3.60 ERA along with some of the best peripheral numbers of his career. He has also helped to mitigate mediocre performance from staff ace Pablo Lopez. Despite Carlos Correa being on the injured list himself, the veteran All-Star shared thoughts on losing both Ryan and Brock Stewart.

Of course losing that sort of talent will never be easy to replace. David Festa and Zebby Matthews will be asked to step up. Simeon Woods Richardson will need to continue being a bright spot. Louie Varland will also need to look like the arm that elevated him to the big leagues in the first place.

It was a somber day prior to the doubleheader on Friday. Minnesota lost a significant amount of talent. They responded with a pair of wins against the Guardians and that sort of resiliency will need to be replicated the rest of the way.

Related: Minnesota Twins are Dangerously Close to Being the Best Team in the American League

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