WASHINGTON — First, Anthony Edwards miraculously returned early for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now, it appears Joe Ryan could follow in his footsteps.
Two days after he walked off the mound with right elbow soreness, the Minnesota Twins pitcher played catch at Nationals Park on Tuesday afternoon and was cleared to throw a bullpen the following day. If all goes well in Wednesday’s session, Ryan will make his next scheduled start when the Twins play the Cleveland Guardians later this week.
The Twins put their plan in motion after Ryan received a clean MRI showing no structural damage, and he was later cleared by the team’s training and medical staffs.
“It’s relief,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “The eternal pessimist in me is saying I’m going to wait until we get through (Wednesday) and go. But (Tuesday) was a really good sign because he threw well after having a conversation with him. He was able to throw his breaking balls and didn’t feel anything. We had an MRI. There was no structural damage. Once you hear all those things, it makes you feel better, especially when it came after two hitters on Sunday. But overall, we’re trending in the right direction.”
When Ryan walked off the mound after nine pitches Sunday, panic set in for the organization and its fans. Only 11 weeks earlier, Pablo López similarly walked off the mound in the middle of a Feb. 16 throwing session and signaled for the training staff, just as Ryan did when facing the Toronto Blue Jays. In that case, an MRI showed López had a torn ulnar collateral ligament and would require season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Ryan struck out the first batter he faced Sunday and then started to feel something unusual during a six-pitch walk of Toronto’s Kazuma Okamoto. Rather than continue pitching, Ryan signaled to the dugout, and from there, he, Shelton and athletic trainer Nick Paparesta decided to end the outing.
Joe Ryan exited the Twins’ game against the Blue Jays on Sunday in the first inning with elbow soreness in his right arm. (David Berding / Getty Images
Before long, Ryan was in an MRI machine. He received the positive results before the end of the game and then waited for a consultation with team doctor Chris Camp, where he received further reassurance.
“I didn’t feel too much discomfort,” Ryan said. “You never know. The injuries I’ve had in the past have kind of been — it wasn’t this excruciating pain or anything crazy, and then I’ve been optimistic on the other side and had bad results. This time around, having good results definitely was obviously a win-win and reassuring. You never know until the imaging comes back.”
Shelton praised Ryan for being in tune with his body highly enough to understand something was off. Shortly after López suffered his injury in February, Ryan sensed lower back tightness and delayed his first start of the spring for more than two weeks. The 2025 All-Star also knew almost immediately that something was awry during an August 2024 incident and immediately left the game with an injury that resulted in a Grade 2 teres major strain that cost Ryan 49 games.
Even as relieved as they currently feel, the Twins will be mindful of Ryan.
“There will be a watchful eye,” Shelton said. “The first thing you want with any of your players, or especially your pitchers, is if they feel something, especially in their arm, we want them to communicate it. We want to make sure we’re not going to put him in harm’s way. We will carefully monitor this situation. The one really great thing about Joe is he is probably in tune with his body as any player I’ve ever been around. He can articulate really well what he’s feeling. … We will be very aware.”
The positive news on Ryan comes one day after Edwards stunned the NBA with a quick return from a bone bruise and hyperextended left knee he suffered in the Timberwolves’ opening playoff round. Originally expected to miss weeks, Edwards returned after nine days and scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting as Minnesota topped the heavily favored San Antonio Spurs 104-102 in Game 1 on Monday.
Ryan ruled out that Edwards’ showing provided extra motivation, but he loved the performance.
“That was pretty fun to watch,” Ryan said. “What a beast.”
Ryan hopes to be back on the mound this weekend in Ohio. If the Twins kept their rotation in order, Ryan would be scheduled to pitch Saturday at Progressive Field.
Ryan is confident in the plan the Twins established. He emerged from Tuesday’s session feeling good and is optimistic about Wednesday.
“Make sure everything feels good (Wednesday) on the mound, and that’s the main focus,” Ryan said. “Any time, yeah, you dodge a bullet there, you just are grateful for every day you get to come in and put the jersey. … It just felt good to be here.”