After news broke last night that the Minnesota Twins are recalling left-handed pitcher Kendry Rojas and promoting left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp to the taxi squad for this week's series against the New York Mets, the team announced this morning that they have placed breakout right-handed starting pitcher Mick Abel on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.
It's a brutal blow for the Twins. After a rough start to the season, Abel threw 13 scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts over his last two outings against the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, respectively.
MICK ABEL. SEVEN SHUTOUT INNINGS. CAREER-HIGH 10 STRIKEOUTS.
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) April 15, 2026
Since coming over in the Jhoan Duran trade, his stuff has been electric but execution has wavered at times. Not tonight. He DONINATED the Red Sox and showed the league what he looks like when he’s on. pic.twitter.com/4ucbGfUE0j
Hopefully Abel's IL stint only lasts 15 days. The severity of the righty's injury is currently unknown to the public.
Abel landing on IL helps explain why Prielipp, Rojas joining Twins for Mets series
MLB.com had Abel, 24, as the Twins' scheduled starter for Game 1 of the Mets series on Tuesday. Since Minnesota is off today, Simeon Woods Richardson could start with full rest on Tuesday. The Twins could also have Prielipp, 25, make the start. However, while Prielipp would be starting five days after his last outing, the lefty had at least five days of rest in between each of his four outings this season.
Rojas, 23, has made two appearances for Triple-A St. Paul since returning from his hamstring injury. The Twins may have Rojas make the start on Tuesday, but he would be on a strict pitch count. The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman reported last week that general manager Jeremy Zoll said Rojas will pitch every four days for the Saints. Rojas made his last appearance on Thursday, so he'd be ready to start on Tuesday.
Minnesota could also eventually work righty Andrew Morris, who gave up three runs in 1 1/3 innings in the Twins' loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, into the rotation plans. But for now, it seems most likely that Prielipp will join the rotation. After allowing one run on four hits and one walk with a professional career-high eight strikeouts across five innings in his last outing on Thursday, Prielipp has a 2.30 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings across four appearances with St. Paul this season.
The Twins' series opener against the Mets, who have lost 11 straight games, is scheduled to begin at 6:10 p.m. CST on Tuesday at Citi Field. Righty Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.28 ERA) is slated to make the start on the mound for New York.
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