Ryan sees 'ebbs and flows' in inconsistent home opener

MINNEAPOLIS -- An inning into Thursday’s home opener at Target Field, the vibes were through the roof. Joe Ryan was throwing 94-95 miles per hour and had struck out the side in order. The top of the order delivered two runs through a combination of power and small ball. The sun even started to poke through the clouds on a chilly day.

It didn’t feel that good again (with the possible exception of the top of the ninth, when Jose Altuve struck out for the fifth time). Ryan could not repeat his first-inning velocity or results, and the Twins didn’t score another run in a 5-2 loss to the Astros. It was a vexing day for Ryan, who looked tremendous at times and vulnerable at others.

“The stuff looked really good,” said catcher Ryan Jeffers. “We've got to figure out how we can avoid those, I wouldn't say big innings, but avoid the two runners, the home runs.”

After Minnesota scratched out its two runs, the Astros needed only three pitches to get on the board, and six to tie the game. Ryan left a 1-1 sweeper over the middle of the plate, and Christian Walker obliterated it into the second deck. Three pitches after that, Ryan made the pitch he wanted to on an 0-2 count to Jeremy Pe?a -- up and out of the zone -- and Pe?a took it deep anyway.

One pitch, Ryan would like to have back. One decision, he might also. Ryan executed the pitch to Pe?a well, but on second thought he might have chosen something else entirely.

“Just tried to make an adjustment on the sweeper,” said Ryan. “It didn’t really sweep. Kind of stayed there. And he’s a good hitter. So it goes out. And then kind of the same thing on Pe?a, just like an obvious swing-and-miss there. And [we] climb the ladder and he was just ready for it.”

Ryan enjoyed a clean and efficient third with a strikeout and two popups, then found himself in trouble quickly in the fourth with a hit batter. Following a deep flyout and a single, a miscommunication led to the defining moment in the game.

With the pitch clock winding down, Ryan and Jeffers couldn’t settle on the pitch they wanted. Ryan saw a gesture from Jeffers that he thought could have been interpreted as asking for time, and he stepped off. He was charged with a balk, putting runners on second and third. The Twins brought the infield in, and Brendan Rodgers poked the game-winning two-run single.

“We were going through every pitch but the one I wanted to throw,” said Ryan. “And the clock had already been down. It’s on me. I’ve got to step off there and use the disengagement, get the right pitch.”

As for the velocity, which reached as high as 95.1 mph on his four-seam fastball and as low as 88, Ryan seemed unconcerned. It’s certainly possible that his first-inning spike was a result of energy from a home opener start, and his average velocity of 92.2 wasn’t far out of line from his previous start or what he threw in Spring Training.

“I wasn’t feeling too much fatigue,” he said. “I think it was just getting in the rhythm again. Coming off the injury [last August], obviously, I’ve had two outings in the games. Just some of that is building that tonality or whatever I like to think of it as in the arm and getting used to that again. Different adjustments, getting used to the up-downs. Maybe the cold has a little bit to do with it, but I don’t really buy into that too much. I think a couple things I can clean up and I noticed breaking down the game after. I’m not too worried about it, though.”

Still, it’s not like he wasn’t getting outs at times, even when the 95 turned into more like 92. It was just a strange day for the right-hander.

“Joe in general, like he's had some ebbs and flows, and he's really dominant,” said Jeffers. “He can be the best pitcher in baseball, if you get that first-inning Joe all the time. And I think, I think we're really close to having that ability, for sure.”