The Minnesota Twins are back at home on Friday night, opening a weekend set against the Toronto Blue Jays, but the Twins are still feeling the mark left from playing the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. On the field, the Twins took three of the four games played against the Athletics, but it was that very field that gave Minnesota multiple scares.
While it seems that shortstop Carlos Correa avoided a serious injury, Correa was quick to blame the batter's box at Sutter Health Park for the reason he was out of the lineup on Wednesday and Thursday. Correa is expected to return to the lineup on Friday night against the Blue Jays.
The news was not so good for Pablo López. López will miss the next 8-12 weeks after suffering a shoulder strain during his start against the Athletics on Tuesday. Like Correa, López hasn't been a stranger to injury concerns this season, but the fact that the injury took place at a minor-league stadium is not lost on Joe Ryan.
Ryan was not afraid to point the finger at the Athletics' ballpark situation as the reason for López's injury.
Joe Ryan torches the Athletics' playing conditions
“The first thing I thought of was Wheeler saying, ‘I was all arm when I was here,’” Ryan told Dan Hayes of The Athletic. “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.”
Ryan was referring to Philadelphia Phillies' starting pitcher Zack Wheeler, who also wasn't shy about taking aim at the playing conditions of Sutter Health Park.
For as much as the Athletics and Major League Baseball want fans to squint and think the conditions of minor-league stadiums such as Sutter Health Park are up to the standards of a Major League Baseball game, Ryan's comments are a direct reminder that the players think otherwise. Fortunately, for the Twins, their series against the Athletics this week was the last time they will be playing in a minor-league stadium this season.