PHILADELPHIA -- A season like Joe Ryan had in 2025 deserved a better ending than it appeared it was going to get. But on Friday, in his final start of the best year of his career, Ryan turned in the kind of outing that was the norm for most of the campaign.
Ryan struck out nine against one walk, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings. The Twins lost, 3-1, to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, but it was no fault of Ryan’s. He allowed a solo homer to Edmundo Sosa, but also allowed a pair of infield singles that should have been outs, one of which led directly to a run.
After a run of starts where it appeared Ryan would limp to the finish, he regained his All-Star form against one of baseball’s best teams. He put a recent illness completely behind him and just dealt.
“I just wanted to finish strong,” he said. “I finally felt pretty good back from everything and we had a good week. It’s good to have [catcher Christian Vázquez]. … I’m feeling really good right now. I’d love to keep pitching but that’s where we’re at. So, yeah, good to have a good outing.”
Ryan reached career highs in starts (30) and innings (171), equaled a career high with 13 wins, and posted a career-best 3.47 ERA. He made his first All-Star team and carried a sparkling 2.72 ERA as late as mid-August.
But a run of inconsistency, marked most notably by a two-inning start when he was dealing with flu-like symptoms, put a damper on Ryan’s overall numbers and quest for Cy Young consideration. Ryan entered Friday with a 9.00 ERA in three September starts, but he arrested the trend and gave himself some good feelings to go into the winter with.
“Joe is obviously good at what he does,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “Putting together a really good season like he has, I think, was the next step in his progression. He’s been really good. We know he’s been good. Last year, he was exceptional until he [suffered a season-ending injury]. A six-month season where you make every start, go out there and pitch as one of the better pitchers in all of baseball, that’s a different test. And he passed that test.”
One question still lingers, however. After a large Trade Deadline sell-off -- in which Ryan himself thought for a while he had been traded -- it’s uncertain what direction the Twins will go this offseason.
There is at least some question as to whether this was not just Ryan’s final start of 2025, but his last one in a Twins uniform. He didn’t sound like someone who wanted that to be the case.
“I felt like I was in shock for a couple of weeks after [the Trade Deadline] and then it kind of settled in,” he said. “[My future] is so far out of my control. But it seems like the team is making good decisions, from the front office and coaching staff [on] down, to give ourselves a chance to win a couple more ballgames.
“We did a really good job of that in the second half given where we were at having new guys come up and fill a lot of roles. Put a guy like [Luke] Keaschall on the team we had previous to the Deadline, and having Brooks [Lee] and Austin [Martin] play a little bit more, they've been playing really good baseball. I think it gives us a chance. Maybe we could have made the playoffs. Who knows?”