KANSAS CITY -- It’s never good news when you put one of your best players on the injured list, but the Twins are breathing at least a bit of a sigh of relief regarding Joe Ryan.
Ryan is expected to be placed on the injured list with a strained left glute muscle after an evaluation and an MRI on Thursday morning with head team physician Dr. Christopher Camp. The right-hander struggled in three starts since the All-Star break and has reported difficulty repeating his delivery.
“Encouraging that it’s nothing serious,” manager Derek Shelton said. “I think we’re just going to have to wait and see. … We’ve just got to wait and see how he feels. I think as he’s talked about, and I’ve talked about, he looks like he’s been out of sync and hasn’t felt right. So I think part of it is going to be just how he feels. We’ll sit down and talk as a group about what are the steps forward.”
No move has been announced at this time, but it is most likely that right-hander Zebby Matthews will be recalled to start one of the weekend’s games in Milwaukee. Ryan’s next scheduled rotation turn is Sunday, but the Twins have “TBA” listed for their starter both Friday and Sunday. Matthews had initially been slated to start Thursday for Triple-A St. Paul but was removed from that start.
The most likely sequence is that Matthews, who last started July 31 in Seattle, will pitch Friday’s series opener against the Brewers, with Connor Prielipp pushed back to Sunday as the Twins continue to manage his workload. Matthews was optioned Saturday to make roster room for trade acquisition A.J. Minter. But because Matthews would be replacing an injured player, he would be eligible to be recalled in fewer than the usually required 15 days.
Ryan pitched 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Royals on Tuesday night, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks. He has scuffled in three starts since the All-Star break, allowing 17 runs (16 earned) in 15 1/3 innings.
The two-time All-Star missed time in Spring Training due to lower back discomfort and was pulled from a start after one-third of an inning in May due to elbow pain, though he pitched one of his best games of the year six days after that. Most recently, his last start before Monday was pushed back three days due to what was called arm fatigue.
Buxton coming along, but a ways off
Byron Buxton, who technically would be eligible to come off the injured list over the weekend in Milwaukee, will need additional time. He and the club are encouraged by his progress as he recuperates from a right hip impingement, but he has not yet begun baseball activities after undergoing an injection in the joint that sidelined him for almost a week.
“I'm doing a little bit,” said Buxton. “It's a little slower than what I expected, but I'm starting to pick it up a little more, do a little more things as far as loading and isometrics and weight training stuff, lifting. All that's going pretty well. Hopefully relay that over to the field over a couple of days.”
Buxton hates to spend any time on the injured list, and certainly to spend more than the minimum 10 days. But after a previous IL stint for the same injury didn’t knock out the condition, he understands that this time around may take a little longer.
“Still tough to swallow,” he said. “But it's trusting them. That goes a long ways as well, them trusting me with the last few times to try and go out and see if it would be fine. It didn't work out in that way. It's taking that page out of the book and following their protocols of what needs to be done. But also, I'm definitely itching to get back.”
Twins tidbits
Triple-A St. Paul announced that reliever Grant Hartwig has been released. … Righty Merit Jones, a 14th-round pick in the 2025 Draft, has had quite a week. He was named Florida State League pitcher of the Month for July, then promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids. … Also at Fort Myers, No. 3 overall Draft pick Vahn Lackey is off to a strong start. He’s thrown out five of 12 would-be base stealers (41.7 percent) while posting a 263/500/316 line at the plate in his first six professional games.