Second opinion on Joe Ryan's shoulder strain confirms what Twins fans were afraid of

While Minnesota Twins fans were holding onto a sliver of hope that Joe Ryan might not miss as much time as initially feared, a second opinon on his shoulder confirms what everyone was dreading.

Ryan left his start against the Chicago Cubs early, with the team later revealing that he had suffered a Grade 2 teres strain. A team MRI is what led the Twins to place Ryan on the 15-day IL but it was the prognosis that he could potentially miss the remainder of the season prompted a second opinion.

To be clear, despite a poorly worded report that the Twins clubhouse apparently laughed at, Ryan and the team were on the same page about seeking the second opinion. Minnesota gave Ryan its blessing to fly out to California and meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache since it was in everyone's best interest to see if he'd be able to come back sooner.

Luck was unfortunately not on their side, though.

Latest Joe Ryan injury update confirms what Twins fans were fearing

The second opinion on Ryan's shoulder confirmed that he had a severe Grade 2 muscle strain, which means he won' t be returning to the rotation anytime soon.

While that's less than ideal, the good news is that the Twins are still unwilling to rule him out for the remainder of the season despite that timeline being possible. It's unclear what that timeline will be, but at the very least everyone knows exactly what the situation is.

“Felt the same way we did about the injury, being a Grade 2 teres major strain of his shoulder,” Twins trainer Nick Paparesta said. “Joe is going to be down for a period of time that we discussed earlier, weeks probably, and we’ll kind of reassess him at that point in time. You don’t want to say the season’s over at any point in time, so we’ll wait and see how things go once we get a chance to look at him again.”

The next big question is how long Ryan will be out. Weeks-to-months isn't exactly concrete, and the Twins are in the thick of a race for the AL Central crown which adds some extra pressure. Minnesota has been able to fill the gap with David Festa and Zebby Matthews, two of the team's top pitching prospects who have been thrust into a sink-or-swim situation, but have so far lived up to the billing .

Getting Ryan back healthy -- not quickly -- is the main prioritity, though. In addition to watching the scoreboard and the standings for where the Twins' magic number sits, watchful eyes will be on how well Ryan is recoevring and whether he'll be able to get back before the postseason rolls around.

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