Ryan back in bullpen -- and tossing pigskin -- as Twins open camp

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Twins pitchers had their first Spring Training workout early Thursday afternoon and all eyes were on right-hander Joe Ryan, who missed the final seven weeks of the 2024 season after suffering a right shoulder strain against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Aug. 7.

There weren’t any signs of trouble for Ryan prior to that start; in fact, he pitched five-plus innings in 25 straight starts (dating back to September 2023), the longest such streak for a Twins pitcher since Ervin Santana's 33 from 2016-17.

The good news was, it didn’t take long for Ryan to recover from his shoulder injury. The way he saw it, he had a normal offseason, which included several bullpen sessions.

“I’ve been throwing bullpens consistently on our schedule. I’m just sticking to the program and everything has been pretty smooth. I’m trusting the buildup,” Ryan said. “The more years you have [in the Major Leagues], getting the feel for spring and how [the Twins] run things here, I want to know what Spring Training looks like the next six weeks. It gives another layer of confidence.”

If Thursday was any indication, Ryan’s confidence is sky high. After doing his calisthenics to start the day, Ryan threw the football several times – impressive spirals to the team trainer. Now that he is healthy, Ryan is pleased to have the pigskin as part of his routine.

“Throwing the football is something I like to do,” Ryan said. “I kind of took it out of the routine a little bit. With what we are trying to achieve with different pitches and hand positioning … I think it’s a good teaching tool and I can work on some things mechanically while I’m throwing the football. It’s good to separate mechanics and throwing. If I’m focusing on mechanics while I’m throwing the football, then I can go to the baseball and throw freely.”

Ryan then played catch with right-hander Michael Tonkin before throwing 36 pitches in his bullpen, without any discomfort. Known for a four-seamer, split finger and sweeper, Ryan spent most of the session working on his slider and sinker -- two pitches against which opposing hitters batted a combined .344 in ‘24.

Manager Rocco Baldelli watched Ryan perform on the mound and thought he was in midseason form, and went so far as to say Ryan will be in the front end of the rotation. Baldelli already announced that Pablo López will be the Opening Day starter on March 27 in St. Louis.

“Joe has treated himself really well this offseason. He looks good, strong and mobile like he always is,” Baldelli said. “I think he’s looking to come back this year and put together a full season worth of innings and produce the way he did or even better than last year.

“He had an awesome year before he suffered [the shoulder injury] but he’s come in fully healed and looked great. He healed at a good, quick rate. He’s got a good, loose framed body and he’s a durable guy. He can just normally keep throwing. He came back from [the injury] the way we hoped he would. It gave him virtually pretty close to a normal offseason, which is what you’re hoping for.”

A healthy Ryan has already set goals for himself and high hopes for the Twins in ‘25. He is not expecting the team to slump like they did during the last two months of last season.

“I want to throw more innings than I did last year and the year before that. I want to stay on the field, compete and win – a basic teammate,” he said. “I think we are in a really good spot. We were talking about that yesterday. There are so many familiar faces, obviously, and not a ton of crazy turnover. That’s good for camaraderie and building that flow with the team. There were a lot of things that didn’t end well. If we just stay strong and stay consistent, we’ll be in a good spot.”