Joe Ryan’s return from the injured list is about to force a decision in Minnesota’s rotation, and the Twins don’t appear to have much wiggle room.
Ryan is close after a rehab start with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints early last week and a bullpen session on Saturday.
Multiple reports have pointed to a possible return as soon as this week. Once that happens, one current starter will have to give way, unless the Twins decide to ride a six-man rotation the rest of the season.
That outcome seems less likely than simply moving one pitcher to the bullpen.
Taj Bradley and Bailey Ober look secure, which narrows the conversation to Dean Kremer, Connor Prielipp and Zebby Matthews. There are arguments for all three as possible odd men out, but the path has already shifted once this year.
When the Twins picked up Kremer from the Baltimore Orioles ahead of the trade deadline, Matthews lost his rotation spot. Then Ryan went on the IL with a glute strain in early August, and Minnesota brought Matthews back up after optioning him to the St.
Paul Saints.
Matthews may have done enough to stay. Since returning in early August, he has put up a 3.50 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 36 innings over six starts.
That makes Kremer and Prielipp the more obvious candidates. Kremer opened his Twins stint well, giving up only two runs in 12 innings across his first two starts, but things have gone sideways since then. Over his last four outings, he has allowed 15 runs.
Prielipp, meanwhile, just turned in a strong performance on Sept. 1, throwing five scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Still, August was rough. He posted a 7.76 ERA in 26 2/3 innings over five starts.
The best guess is that Prielipp is the one who gets bumped when Ryan is back.
He’s already at a career-high workload. Between the majors and Triple-A, Prielipp has thrown 122 2/3 innings this season, topping the 82 2/3 innings he logged last year. His track record makes that number stand out even more: he has been limited by a series of serious injuries, pitched only 28 innings in college, then totaled just 6 2/3 innings in 2023 and 23 1/3 innings in 2024 after the Twins took him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft.
For Minnesota, shifting him to relief for the rest of the season could make sense. And if the Twins end up making a surprise playoff run, Prielipp could still matter as a bullpen piece in October.
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