Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Not long after the Minnesota Twins walked out for their first full-squad practice of 2026, ace pitcher Pablo Lopez walked off the mound with a UCL tear in his elbow — an injury that, as confirmed days later, will require Tommy John surgery to repair.
You really can’t imagine a worse way to start the new baseball season than what happened to Pablo Lopez and the MN Twins earlier this week. But what choice do they have but to pick up the pieces and trudge forward toward the start of their 2026 season.
But if Lopez’ injury wasn’t bad enough, we got more proof late Saturday morning that the baseball gods are not smiling down on Minnesota this spring, no matter how much new boss Tom Pohlad wants to believe they are.
Joe Ryan scratched from first start of spring training with back tightness
Today, the Twins are playing their first Grapefruit League game vs the Boston Red Sox, with starting pitcher Joe Ryan scheduled to take the mound… until he was scratched from the lineup card 15 minutes before first pitch, and replaced by something named Eston Stull.
Shortly after the Twins made reporters aware of Ryan’s scratch, they divulged that Joe was pulled last minute after he experienced “low back tightness on his right side” while warming up for his first start of the spring.
Joe Ryan has been scratched from today’s start… Info coming shortly.
— Declan Goff (@DexsTweets) February 21, 2026
Joe Ryan has been scratched from today’s start with low back tightness on his right side. #MNTwins
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 21, 2026
Out of all the position groups to experience injury issues (before the Twins even played their first spring training game), the top of their starting rotation would have been far and away the most devastating of the bunch, being it was really the only real strength of the roster.
Joe Ryan injury latest: MN Twins waiting on MRI results
Even if Joe Ryan returns to the mound before the end of spring, this group of starters — which came into camp with a ton of intriguing young depth on the backend and plenty of proven big league talent up front — now looks like a liability, if things do not break right.
And at this point… there is no guarantee Ryan’s back injury is minor, especially after the Minnesota Twins declined to provide any further information until tomorrow, after Joe receives an MRI later today.
No update from #MNTwins on Joe Ryan other than he is undergoing an MRI today. Should have more info tomorrow.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 21, 2026
Let’s be real, Bailey Ober is not a legitimate No. 2 starter in the MLB. And if Ryan does have to miss regular season games (god forbid), a rotation that goes Ober into Taj Bradley into Simeon Woods Richardson into Zebby Matthews… isn’t going to strike fear into the heart of opponents.
Now, their only path to winning in 2026 is if at least a handful of young, unproven Twins at multiple different positions across the depth chart step up and assert themselves as high-quality big leaguers… and preferably early.
Related: MN Twins Starting Rotation Mostly Set
In 2025, he was the only positive light on their starting rotation matched his career-high in wins (13), tossing 171 innings with 194 strikeouts and just 39 walks. The rest of Joe’s numbers were stellar too — 3.42 ERA, a 1.035 WHIP, 10.2 SO/9 and a 125 ERA+, 4.5 WAR.
Now that his fellow ace is out for the season, the Minnesota Twins really can’t afford to lose their other 30-year-old All-Star starter, even for one month. So let’s hope and pray Ryan’s diagnosis doesn’t go south in the coming days.
Mentioned in this article: Injury Joe Ryan Spring Training
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