CHICAGO – Officially, the Twins have “TBA” listed as their starting pitcher for Monday’s series opener in Detroit. Unofficially, the plan is that Joe Ryan will take the ball for his first Major League start in more than a month.
Ryan has been out since early August due to a strained left glute muscle. He made a Minor League rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday and then threw a bullpen Saturday, setting him up to pitch in Detroit.
“I would say it’s a very strong chance that Joe’s going to start that game,” manager Derek Shelton said Sunday afternoon.
Dean Kremer and Zebby Matthews will pitch the next two games in Detroit, with rookie Connor Prielipp not currently having a scheduled start. As Prielipp’s first full healthy season in professional baseball winds to a close, the Twins are looking at a variety of ways to use him while still managing his innings and exposure.
Ryan, 30, is 6-8 with a 3.65 ERA this year. He enjoyed a tremendous first half, earning him his second consecutive All-Star berth, but struggled coming out of the break.
He made three subpar starts to open the second half, never feeling that he really had his delivery right, before being placed on the IL following an Aug. 4 start in Kansas City. He threw 42 pitches in his rehab start, so he will likely be on a relatively tight pitch count in his first game back.