The Twins fell to 38-42 on the season after a 2-1 loss to the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Target Field on Monday night. While Zebby Matthews pitched well and Byron Buxton homered, it wasn't enough to get the job done against the best team in the National League. Game 2 of the series is scheduled to begin at 6:40 p.m. CDT tonight, and Game 3 is expected to begin at the same time on Wednesday. In addition to the Dodgers series, there's plenty of news surrounding the Twins these days.
Mick Abel's MRI reveals he avoided worst case scenario
It appeared Abel would be reinstated from the IL against the Arizona Diamondbacks this past weekend. Unfortunately, the right-hander suffered a setback after a 20-pitch bullpen session Friday, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Bobby Nightengale. An MRI revealed he only has swelling in his elbow but, luckily, no ligament damage, Derek Shelton told reporters.
Mick Abel update, from Derek Shelton:
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) June 23, 2026
"He's got swelling in the elbow joint. It's basically a renew of the old injury. That's what we saw in the MRI. There's no damage to the ligament, but we will get a second opinion from Dr. Meister."
It's unclear how much longer Abel will be sidelined. He last appeared in an MLB game on April 14, when he hurled seven scoreless innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox at Target Field. He looked sharp in two rehab starts with Triple-A St. Paul this month, allowing just one earned run in eight innings with his fastball averaging around 96 mph.
Twins option RHP Cody Laweryson, call up RHP Austin Voth in bullpen shuffle
The Twins optioned Laweryson to Triple-A St. Paul and selected the contract of Voth, the team announced on Tuesday. Voth, who signed a minor-league deal with the Twins early in the month, filled the 40-man roster vacancy left when the club designated right-hander Justin Lawrence a few days ago.
Voth, 34 on Friday, began the year with the Blue Jays. He pitched six innings across two appearances with Toronto this season, allowing six earned runs on eight hits and five walks. In 44 1/3 innings in Triple-A this year, Voth has a 3.65 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He relies on six pitches: a mid-80s cutter, low-90s four-seamer, mid-70s curveball, high-80s sweeper, low-90s sinker and mid-80s split finger.
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani homers off Zebby Matthews ahead of pitching start vs. Twins
Ohtani immediately put on a show for Twins fans in Game 1 of this week's Dodgers-Twins series at Target Field, hitting a leadoff home run off Zebby Matthews.
Shohei Ohtani CRUSHES a leadoff home run 😯 pic.twitter.com/n3XDhksMRU
— MLB (@MLB) June 22, 2026
Buxton tied the game with a homer in the bottom half of the inning, then Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead with a solo blast in the sixth. Los Angeles won the game 2-1.
Ohtani, who has a 1.47 ERA over 12 starts this season, is slated to start on the mound in the series finale on Wednesday. Joe Ryan was scratched from his scheduled start today due to an illness and will instead oppose Ohtani on the mound tomorrow, according to The Athletic's Dan Hayes. Left-hander Kendry Rojas is starting in Ryan's place tonight.
Joe Ryan is feeling better and will start Weds for the #MNTwins vs. Shohei Ohtani. Connor Prielipp was listed as the starter. Twins are currently TBD for Friday.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) June 23, 2026
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