KANSAS CITY — Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan made it through just two innings against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night, his shortest outing since Aug. 7 2024, when he went two innings against the Cubs and exited because of a shoulder muscle strain that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Ryan indicated the day before he was feeling ill, but there was no immediate concern about a different physical ailment related his poor results.
Ryan left with the Twins trailing 5-2. The club came in having lost five straight, including the series opener Friday.
A day before he took the mound at Kauffman, Ryan complained of feeling sick, something like a cold or the flu.
Ryan said he gave no thought to not pitching against the Royals, but his early results against them also turned out sickly. He allowed all five runs in the first, walking the first two batters before allowing a run-scoring double to Vinnie Pasquantino and a three-run home run to Salvador Perez. All nine Royals in the starting lineup batted in the first.
Coming in, Ryan had allowed 10 runs all season in the first inning. He also came in undefeated against the Royals for his career, owning a 1.34 ERA in nine starts, and was even more dominant at Kauffman.
Ryan fared better in the second inning, though it wasn’t clean. He allowed a two-out walk to Pasquantino and a broken-bat bloop single to Perez before getting a visit from pitching coach Pete Maki. Right-hander Thomas Hatch began to warm in the bullpen as Ryan surpassed 60 pitches, but Adam Frazier struck out to end the inning. Getting it over with allowed Ryan to smile as he walked off while chatting with Pasquantino.
Hatch relieved Ryan to start the bottom of the third. Ryan’s overall line over two innings: five runs allowed, four hits, four walks and two strikeouts. The outcome raised his ERA 24 points to 3.32.
Ryan entered with 155 innings pitched as he approached his career season-high of 161 2/3 innings, set in 2023. In Ryan’s previous outing Aug. 30, he shut out the San Diego Padres over seven innings, allowing five hits and a walk to go with eight strikeouts.
The Royals put on the offensive display without star shortstop Bobby Witt, who didn’t start because of back spasms. Witt exited early in the series opener Friday for the same reason.
Jeffers catching up soon, probably
The Twins had nothing official to say before the game about the health of Ryan Jeffers, who sustained a head contusion Thursday after getting hit on the head (via his catcher’s gear) twice on foul tips.
Unofficially, Jeffers appears to be trending toward avoiding the injured list and getting back in the lineup, though no return time has been specified. The Twins, who are unlikely to mount a playoff charge with a 62-79 record coming in, just want to be cautious. Jeffers returning to action Sunday is possible.
Jeffers also missed the series opener against the Royals, prompting the Twins to add Jhonny Peredes to the active roster to catch Pablo López’s return after three months away due to a shoulder muscle injury.
The Twins optioned outfielder DaShawn Keirsey on Friday to make room on the active roster for Peredes, but Keirsey remains with the club on its taxi squad because of the fluidity of the situation.
Line ’em up for Rocco
With Luke Keaschall starting at second base most days, Edouard Julien plays first base when he sees action. He’s made 17 straight appearances and 12 straight starts there, getting defensive results that are below average according to small-sample metrics. But, in a familiar refrain, the Twins are trying to see if Julien can get going offensively so he’s a candidate to help them in 2026.
As happened in 2024, Julien hasn’t been getting great results at the plate, either — he came in batting .193 with a .285 on-base percentage and a .310 slugging in 145 at-bats. But his expected numbers at MLB Statcast remain encouraging, with a .437 expected slugging and even a .242 expected batting average.
“I don’t really think too much about the results, even though I want them to be better,” Julien said. “It does seem like I’ve been getting a little bit unlucky, but you don’t get credit for expected results.
“I’m just happy to be with the big-league team, trying to show what I can do.”
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