As the Minnesota Twins prepare for a pivotal weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians, the team was bombarded by bad injury news on Friday morning.
Brock Stewart’s season is over, something that fans were bracing for after he was placed on the IL but confirmation came in the form of arthroscopic shoulder surgery. There’s reportedly hope that he’ll be ready for Spring Training, but he’s off the board in terms of being able to help the team now.
As bad as that news was, it was quickly buried by an even worse break — or, more specifically, a strain.
Joe Ryan left Wednesday’s start against the Chicago Cubs with a right tricep strain that the team initially seemed to think might not be that serious. An MRI revealed otherwise, as Ryan suffered a major Grade 2 teres strain that threatens to end his season.
MRI results reveal Joe Ryan suffered ‘major’ injury that could keep him out for months
Rocco Baldelli mentioned in his postgame comments after Ryan left that he didn’t get an indication from talking with his pitcher that something serious or long term had occurred. That was a nugget of hope Twins fans clung to, hope that was crushed on Friday.
It’s still unclear how long Ryan will be out, but it could be that the Twins are without Ryan for “months”.
More tough injury news: Joe Ryan’s injury is worse than the Twins expected. It’s a Grade 2 teres major strain that will take “weeks to months,” Rocco said.
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) August 9, 2024
Didn’t rule him out for the season outright yet, but it’s certainly more severe than initial indications.
Lovely.
Just like we all did when Ryan was injured, fans are clinging to the part of his injury update that mentioned the Twins weren’t willing to rule him out for the season. That being said, Ryan might miss “months” with his injury, and there’s just one left in the regular season.
His injury comes at the absolute worst time for Minnesota. Not only is the team trying to finally catch the Guardians in the AL Central, but the house of cards the team set up at the trade deadline is starting to fall down.
Not acquiring starting pitching help was already a bad look, and losing Ryan only makes it worse. Minnesota was already dangerously thin even with Ryan healthy, and will now need to lean on internal talent to try and fill a major gap in the starting rotation.
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