Twins Lose 2nd Ace Pitcher This Week

To say this hasn't been a good week for the Minnesota Twins rotation is a bit of an understatement. On Friday, one of their ace starters, Pablo Lopez, was knocked out for the entire season due to impending Tommy John surgery. Now, one day later, we learn that their other ace, Joe Ryan, was scratched from his Grapefruit League start on Saturday just 15 minutes before game time. He is undergoing an MRI with “low back tightness on his right side."

No update from #MNTwins on Joe Ryan other than he is undergoing an MRI today. Should have more info tomorrow.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 21, 2026

“It happened during his prep work,” Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters. “We sent him for imaging just to be sure. … There is day-to-day soreness with everybody, but this is something that came up.”

This could have major implications on Team USA's World Baseball Classic squad, as well, as the 29-year-old was to be a big part of the rotation.

Ryan had an elite season in 2025 with the Twins, posting a 3.42 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with a 194:32 strikeout to walk ratio through 171 innings, earning him his first career All-Star appearance. He had 10.2 K/9 and held batters to a .218 average.

After Lopez and Ryan, there's a steep dropoff in the Twins' rotation to the likes of Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley.

Hopefully, this isn't something that will keep Ryan out for any significant length of time.