Twins' Mick Abel Gets MRI Results, Joe Ryan Scratched With Illness

Twins starting pitcher Mick Abel got relatively good news in Monday's MRI after suffering another setback in his attempt to return to action for Minnesota. He has swelling in his elbow joint but no ligament damage.

"It's basically a renew of the old injury," manager Derek Shelton said.

Abel and the Twins will get a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister. It's not exactly clear what this means for his timetable to be back on the mound, but the lack of ligament damage means he should be able to avoid surgery. In an ideal world, his swelling will go down fairly quickly and he'll be able to start ramping up his throwing program again.

Realistically, this probably means he won't be returning prior to the mid-July All-Star break.

Before this latest setback, Abel's return to the Twins' rotation seemed imminent. He had made two strong rehab appearances for Triple-A St. Paul, throwing 61 pitches in the latter. Abel's impending return was an exciting development, considering how well he pitched in spring training and in his third and fourth starts of this season before his mid-April injury. Now it's been put on hold again.

Ryan scratched on Tuesday

Twins ace Joe Ryan was scheduled to start the second game of this week's series against the powerhouse Dodgers on Tuesday night at Target Field, but he's been scratched with an illness.

Young left-hander Kendry Rojas, who hasn't pitched for the Twins in a month, will get the start instead. It'll be a bullpen game for Minnesota. Rojas hasn't thrown more than four innings in a game this season and will probably go two or three in this one, considering he threw just 33 pitches in his one rehab appearance with the Saints.

Needing a fresh arm, the Twins selected the contract of 33-year-old Austin Voth, who they signed to a minor-league deal a few weeks ago. He has a 4.77 ERA in 209 career games with four different MLB teams. Cody Laweryson was optioned to Triple-A after making four appearances on the Twins' recent six-game road trip.

If Ryan can shake his illness quickly, we could be in line to see a marquee pitching matchup between the Twins' ace and Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night. Connor Prielipp is currently the scheduled starter for that game, but he could be bumped back to this weekend if Ryan is ready to go.

Update: Ryan will start on Wednesday, the Twins have announced. Prielipp likely starts on Friday.

The Twins will look to bounce back on Tuesday after falling 2-1 in Monday night's series opener. Zebby Matthews gave up solo shots to Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in a solid six-inning outing, and the Twins couldn't muster any offense after Byron Buxton's 25th homer of the year in the first inning.

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