From Ryan exceeding expectations to the pinch-hitting plan: 3 takeaways from Twins Opening Day

BALTIMORE -- The Twins' season got off to a disappointing start on Thursday with a 2-1 Opening Day loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards. Joe Ryan was brilliant, the bullpen was a little choppy and the lineup produced baserunners but not runs. Here are three takeaways from an interesting -- but ultimately frustrating -- opener.

1. Joe Ryan is just fine
It was fair to wonder, maybe just a bit, about what Ryan would deliver in his season debut. His spring included more than two weeks on the shelf with back trouble, and he only made three starts. His velocity was down a bit -- though, as Ryan noted, it was more or less in line with where he was the previous spring.

There was absolutely no reason to worry on Thursday afternoon. Ryan looked as good as ever in a tough assignment on a warm day against a dangerous lineup in a hitter-friendly ballpark. He averaged 93.9 miles per hour on his four-seamer, slightly up from his average last season (93.7). He got 16 swinging strikes, including four out of six swings against his curveball.

He was Joe Ryan.

“It's obviously nice to have that [velocity] there,” Ryan said. “I felt the adrenaline takes care of some things. I was watching the game after and [made] a couple of notes that we went over and wrote down already. … Build off the good ones and make some notes on how I can improve upon some other areas.”

If there was any negative at all, it’s that Ryan got only 16 outs -- but he didn’t seem to have any issue with that. Due to his interrupted spring, he didn’t get stretched out as much as he might have in some years and the O’s managed some long at-bats against him. But that’s the smallest quibble in an exceptional and encouraging start.

“It was better than I expected,” said manager Derek Shelton. “I mean, I think that’s what you expect when you watch Opening Day.”

2. The bullpen is still taking shape
We learned a few things about the Twins' relief corps in the opener, though a good bit remains undetermined. Shelton clearly trusts Kody Funderburk, who was brought in to face the heart of the Orioles' order and did well for the most part -- despite taking the loss after allowing a leadoff single in the seventh.

Shelton then went to Justin Topa with one on and nobody out in the seventh, which reveals one thing -- or maybe two. It clearly shows that Shelton likes Topa with a runner on, which makes sense for a ground-ball pitcher. But seeing as Topa entered in a tie ballgame in the seventh, it also would seem to hint that whatever the ninth-inning plan is, it doesn’t involve funneling save chances to Topa.

Taylor Rogers pitched the eighth with a one-run deficit, and Cole Sands warmed that inning. That’s a high-leverage situation, and it suggests that both Rogers and Sands are on the trusted list as well.

3. We got some ideas about the lineup -- and pinch-hitting
Austin Martin led off against O's starter Trevor Rogers, and Martin is likely to lead off against lefties quite a bit this year. That bumped Luke Keaschall down to the three spot. Shelton has said that with Byron Buxton second, Keaschall will typically bat first or third, so it’s likely he’ll see some looks at leadoff against right-handers.

The other noteworthy aspect was that Victor Caratini started at first base, with Josh Bell moving to DH, while Trevor Larnach was on the bench. That will also probably be a pretty frequent occurrence, with Larnach kept in a fairly strict platoon role while Matt Wallner plays close to every day. Against a righty, the more common setup will probably be Bell at first and Larnach at DH.

That doesn’t mean Larnach didn’t play, though. In a notable move, Shelton pinch-hit for Royce Lewis in the ninth against O’s right-handed closer Ryan Helsley, bringing in Larnach to face the flamethrower.

“It’s a challenging closer but I think we’ve got to -- we’re really left-handed on our bench,” Shelton said. “Helsley, he’s got good stuff. I mean, you see him rushing it up there, 100 [mph]. [In] this ballpark, maybe Trevor gets a chance to clip one. The ball gets up and goes. It’s challenging, but there’s going to be situations where we’re going to have to hit for guys, and so that’s nothing that any of our guys should or will take personally. It’s just how the game goes.”