'He¡¯ll be ready to go': Ryan proves he's on track with strong spring debut

TAMPA -- A two-hour bus ride, a lineup filled with Major League stars, a long first inning on the mound and a long layover before his second inning: the circumstances could have been easier for Joe Ryan in his 2025 Grapefruit League debut on Thursday.

But those are the good kinds of challenges, as opposed to the sort he faced in the final third of last season. In his first game appearance since August, Ryan pitched two scoreless innings, allowing a single and a walk, and striking out four during Minnesota's 8-4 win over the Yankees. Afterward, he pronounced himself fully on schedule to pitch in the Twins¡¯ first turn through the regular-season rotation.

¡°Throwing¡¯s been really good,¡± said Ryan. ¡°We just had a little bit of a slower start than normal, but it felt great.¡±

Manager Rocco Baldelli expressed full confidence that Ryan is progressing exactly as he should.

¡°We¡¯re taking this one start at a time,¡± Baldelli said, ¡°but Joe wouldn¡¯t be pitching in a game today here in Tampa unless he was healthy and throwing the ball really well. So I have full expectation that he¡¯ll be ready to go at the beginning of the season.¡±

Ryan suffered a muscle strain in his throwing shoulder in his Aug. 7 start against the Cubs and did not pitch again last year. All throughout the winter and early spring, the reports on his throwing were good, so it¡¯s no surprise that his game debut went well.

As far as his catcher was concerned, it was almost as though he didn¡¯t miss any time.

¡°I didn¡¯t even think about that,¡± said Ryan Jeffers. ¡°Those injuries where they rehab and they kind of have a normal offseason, we haven¡¯t really talked about his injury at all. So no, he looked fresh. He looked good.¡±

Still, it¡¯s never a sure thing 'til it happens, so it was certainly good news to see Ryan look sharp. He threw both his fastballs, as well as sweepers and splitters, getting 23 strikes on 37 pitches. Twenty-four of those pitches came in the first, as Ryan worked around a walk to Aaron Judge and a single by Cody Bellinger. Then the Twins batted around in a five-run second, making Ryan wait a bit longer than normal to return to the mound.

¡°I¡¯d rather have it be smooth and get built up to some more innings and have a little bit more pace,¡± Ryan said, ¡°and then deal with that when the time comes. But it¡¯s fine, we dealt with it. Maybe it does help to just take it back into it. Definitely different, just being out here getting in compete mode and getting going.¡±