{"id":544834,"date":"2026-01-29T23:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/544834\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:32:16","slug":"pablo-lopez-wants-to-help-set-a-new-standard-for-the-twins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/544834\/","title":{"rendered":"Pablo Lopez Wants to Help Set A New Standard For the Twins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minnesota Twins fans breathed a sigh of relief when Derek Falvey shared they had no intention of trading their top three players, Byron Buxton<\/a>, Joe Ryan<\/a>, and Pablo L\u00f3pez<\/a>, this offseason during the Winter Meetings.<\/p>\n

As much as players try to tune out the rumors surrounding the trade market in the off-season, they can still creep into their daily lives. That was the case for L\u00f3pez early this offseason. Still, having the experience of being traded twice already, it was something he could dismiss.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard all the rumors,\u201d L\u00f3pez said on Friday. \u201cJust because I\u2019ve had the experience of being traded twice. It\u2019s not real until it happens, but the one thing I told the front office [is that] I would like to be a part of this rotation going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

With L\u00f3pez and Ryan staying in Minnesota, the starting rotation remains the strongest part of the Twins roster going into 2026. L\u00f3pez ended the season on the injured list with a mild forearm sprain<\/a> after an awkward landing on his throwing arm in front of first base during his last start of the year.<\/p>\n

The injury would have caused L\u00f3pez to miss only two starts at any other point of the year. Still, the Twins had fewer than 10 games left at that point, so it made sense to shut him down for the rest of 2025. Since then, he\u2019s been able to have a normal off-season and looks to be more dependable going into 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have hit all of my marks, threw a live batting practice session yesterday, which means I had to work out today at 6:00 in the morning,\u201d said L\u00f3pez. \u201cI\u2019m going to throw two more before I actually report to spring training. It\u2019s been good. If anything, a little early because of the World Baseball Classic competition, tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pablo L\u00f3pez is one of three Twins set to participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He, along with Buxton and Ryan, will all depart spring training early on March 1 to join their teams for the tournament. The most exciting part about this WBC for L\u00f3pez will be having Johan Santana<\/a>, his childhood icon, on Team Venezuela\u2019s coaching staff. He hopes Santana will help propel them to their first WBC title in tournament history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Twins have been really good about it,\u201d L\u00f3pez said on WBC preparation. \u201cAs long as I communicate with them how I\u2019m feeling and I\u2019m honest with them that I\u2019m feeling good, should be all good. Johan is going to be the pitching coach, which is also super exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Twins\u2019 new chairman, Tom Pohlad, had made a point to meet with his team\u2019s three biggest stars in person at some point during the off-season. He had already flown to Baxley, Ga., to meet with Buxton shortly after taking on the job. He had also done the same in California with Ryan.<\/p>\n

Pablo L\u00f3pez was the only player Pohlad had yet to meet with going into TwinsFest weekend. Still, shortly after reporters wrapped up their interviews with them, they would get down to brass tacks on what they hope for in Minnesota\u2019s 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the anchor of this team, if you will,\u201d Pohlad said. \u201cJust like our fans \u2013 here is my perspective: If our fans are unclear on what the direction of the team is, I have to imagine people in the organization are, and our players are. I wanted to reach out to those guys and do the exact same thing I\u2019m doing with you all or the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to hear what he has to say,\u201d said L\u00f3pez. \u201cObviously, I\u2019ve seen him before, but I haven\u2019t had a chance to talk to him. So, I\u2019m mainly excited to make that first connection, see what he has to say, whatever questions he has for me, be as candid as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a new manager and coaching staff in place, L\u00f3pez understands it\u2019ll be up to the veterans to help set the tone in the clubhouse for the younger players as the new coaches adjust to their roles. He has full confidence in Derek Shelton<\/a> in the role, from how he\u2019s been going out and communicating with the players before spring training starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that shows that he cares; he really values connecting with the people that have been here for a while,\u201d said L\u00f3pez. \u201cObviously, Buxton\u2019s been here way longer than Joe and I. But we\u2019ve been here for quite some time, and we\u2019ve been playing baseball for a decent amount of time, and I think he wants to hear from us. I think that\u2019s a really professional move.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pohlad has high aspirations for the Twins to turn things around in 2026 and wants to give the team a shot at competing for a wild-card spot. For the Twins to get into that position, it ultimately comes down to setting the right tone before the first full squad workout on February 16.<\/p>\n

Pablo L\u00f3pez has already been an established leader in the starting rotation and continues to take that role, especially for newer pitchers in the organization, like Taj Bradley<\/a> and Mick Abel<\/a>. If everything falls into place for Minnesota come Opening Day, then L\u00f3pez can help lead the rotation into a much better direction for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have the right culture, a positive energy, and people believe that we can win, and it\u2019s across the organization, that 82 wins will be 86 wins,\u201d said Pohlad. \u201cThat\u2019s the difference between a wild-card spot and, in our division, a division title. We want to be playing meaningful games in September, and I think we will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a decent amount of tone setting from me and a couple of the guys,\u201d L\u00f3pez said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a lot of changes, because we want to turn it up for good. We want to set the standard. Make sure Minnesota Twins baseball means something good and stick to that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Twins fans breathed a sigh of relief when Derek Falvey shared they had no intention of trading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,822,60,3190,4,1997,148],"class_list":{"0":"post-544834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-twins","11":"tag-minnesotatwins","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-pablo-lopez","14":"tag-twins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115981002071793738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}