Minnesota could finally be getting Joe Ryan back on track, even if the timing leaves the Twins with very little margin for error.
Ryan is set to make a rehab start Tuesday night with Triple-A St. Paul in Omaha, according to AaronGleeman.com's Aaron Gleeman.
The right-hander, who represented the Twins in this year’s All-Star Game, has been out since Aug. 7 with a left glute strain. Derek Shelton said the plan is for Ryan to work three innings and/or about 45-50 pitches, and it will be his first game action in four weeks.
If that outing goes smoothly, Ryan could be back in Minnesota’s rotation early next week. That would be a welcome development for a club with only 24 games left in the regular season and every reason to push for a quick return.
The problem is that the calendar may not be cooperating. The Twins are still alive in the postseason chase, but the odds are stacked against them.
At 66-72, they sit 3 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final Wild Card spot, and FanGraphs gives them just a 7.2% shot to reach the playoffs. The Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays are all closer to Cleveland than Minnesota is in the standings.
There is still a path, however narrow. The Twins have a manageable schedule the rest of the way, with only 9 of their final 24 games coming against teams with winning records. But that’s no guarantee of anything, as Minnesota already learned late last month when it dropped two of three to the Athletics in a series that looked like a softer spot.
The front office’s decision to call up Walker Jenkins last Friday suggests the organization is still holding out hope. And if Ryan comes back as the pitcher Minnesota had before the break, the club’s chances of making a real push improve considerably.
That’s the version of Ryan the Twins need. He entered the All-Star break with a 2.85 ERA, then stumbled badly afterward, posting a 9.39 ERA in 15 1/3 innings over three starts before landing on the injured list.
The glute strain likely contributed to that rough stretch, but the split is also part of Ryan’s larger profile. The 30-year-old owns a 3.17 ERA in the first half of his career over 516 2/3 innings, compared with a 5.00 ERA after the All-Star Break over 250 1/3 innings.
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Jeremy Zoll and Derek Shelton are part of the conversation because every collapse has layers, but this one also reflects the roster limits, the injuries, and the uneven production that have dragged the season off course. Ownership sits in the middle of it too, because when a team with this kind of midseason position slips into survival mode, fans are left asking not just what happened on the field, but who is accountable for building a club that could end up here. [Read more 🡒]