The Twins’ pitching staff took a hit in three different ways this week, and only one of them sounds like a true short-term concern.
Joe Ryan’s “arm fatigue” has the look of a routine pause more than a real alarm. He threw a bullpen session Saturday, according to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other reporters on the scene, and he’s expected to make his next start against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. That’s the kind of update teams breathe easy over in July: a pitcher gets some extra rest, the arm settles down, and the rotation keeps moving.
The other two cases are much tougher to spin.
Mick Abel is done for the year after an arthroscopic elbow procedure, and that’s a brutal turn for a pitcher who opened the 2026 season in strong form. In 20 ⅓ innings, he posted a 2.77 FIP and struck out 23 batters before an elbow issue surfaced in mid-April and eventually led to surgery in late June.
Arthroscopic elbow procedures are generally considered minimally invasive, with small incisions and a cleanup process that can include frayed cartilage, bone spurs, or loose bodies. Rehab usually starts quickly, with the early work centered on regaining range of motion, cutting swelling, and then building back forearm and rotator cuff strength before a throwing program begins.
On average, MLB pitchers return from these surgeries in 5-6 months, and 12% later deal with a UCL injury within five years. Abel may not get back on a mound until October, but he should be ready for spring training, assuming spring training begins on time.
Mike Paredes may not make it back this summer either. He suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain before Saturday’s game against the Athletics, and that kind of injury usually takes 4-8 weeks to heal.
Paredes didn’t light up the stat sheet - his 4.72 ERA, 5.67 FIP, and 3.9% K-BB% were modest - but he gave the Twins exactly what they needed in the moment. He logged 34 innings, made five starts, and helped the club go 3-2 in those games.
Even so, his return window now stretches from the end of August to the end of September, with Minnesota’s final regular-season game set for September 27. The Twins probably wouldn’t use him on a playoff roster even if he were healthy, but they’ll still miss the flexibility he offered.
That leaves the front office with a clearer mandate at the trade deadline. Abel and Paredes both being out increases the pressure on Jeremy Zoll and company to find pitching help, especially with no obvious starting options waiting at Triple-A and Kendrys Rojas averaging fewer than four innings per start. A back-end starter or a long reliever who can cover a spot start would make sense, and two names that fit that mold are Pittsburgh’s Carmen Mlodzinski and Arizona’s Eduardo Rodríguez.
Mlodzinski, 27, comes with a 3.62 FIP and a 10.8% K-BB%, and he’s under team control through November 2029 at $807k. He’s been working in relief after resisting a move to the bullpen earlier this season, but he’s put together several scoreless multi-inning outings and still looks like a starter at heart.
Rodríguez, 33, is a different kind of target: a veteran lefty with a $21 million salary and free agency set for November 2027. He’s been effective this season and has shown some real craft in his resurgence, though the bat-missing stuff isn’t what it once was.
For a team that needs durability and can absorb the money, he could be a fit.
For now, Ryan looks fine, Abel is out, and Paredes is in limbo. That’s the sort of week that can force a team to act, and the Twins may need to use the deadline not just to patch holes, but to build a little more depth for the stretch run and beyond.
In Other News...
Twins Just Sent Their Biggest Deadline Signal Yet On Joe Ryan
Joe Ryans name has hovered over plenty of deadline conversations this month, but the Twins are treating him like part of the solution rather than a trade chip. Minnesota signed the right-hander to a one-year deal and has every reason to value what he has given them this season, even with the club managing his workload after he was pulled back from a scheduled start.
The bigger picture is just as telling. The Twins are operating as buyers and want bullpen help, which says a lot about how they view the stretch run and the kind of roster support they believe this staff needs. Ryans next start should be settled once his recovery is further along, leaving Minnesota to balance short-term caution with the larger push it is making at the deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Rays May Be Pushing Twins Toward A Deadline Decision Fans Dread
The Twins are at least entertaining the kind of deadline path fans usually hope never becomes real, with Tampa Bay among the clubs said to be watching Minnesota closely. The Rays have been scouting the roster heavily in recent weeks, and that kind of attention tends to mean the market is starting to form around players who can help now and still carry team control.
For Minnesota, the uncomfortable part is that the roster has enough internal depth to make a sale feel plausible without immediately stripping the club bare. That gives the front office some cover, but it also raises the possibility that a productive bat could be moved for future value if the Twins decide the deadline should be about retooling rather than chasing a short-term push. [Read more 🡒]