FORT MYERS, Fla. — Pablo López walked off the Hammond Stadium mound after delivering a pitch, cutting short his live batting practice session. López was in his third “up” or simulated inning when elbow soreness forced him to shut things down.

The news of López’s right elbow discomfort marred an otherwise positive day of camp for the Twins, who held their first full-squad workout of the spring on Monday at their complex in Southwest Florida.

The Twins plan to send López for imaging and will have more information after they do so.

“After he and (pitching coach) Pete (Maki) talked, we decided like ‘Hey, out of an abundance of caution, let’s get him off. Let’s get him off the field and make sure he’s okay,’” manager Derek Shelton said.

The starting pitcher is further ahead in his preparation for the season than some of his teammates because he was planning on participating in the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela for the second time in his career. This news puts that in jeopardy for López.

For now, the Twins plan to move cautiously with López, one of their top arms. López was highly effective last year when he pitched, but he made just 14 starts as he dealt with a myriad of injuries — a hamstring strain, a shoulder injury and a forearm strain suffered while fielding his position all landed him on the injured list.

“I don’t live in a speculative world. It’s a terrible place to be in this game,” Shelton said. “Right now, I’m taking we had a really good day. He felt some soreness. We’ll get it looked at and kind of move on from there.”

The day started with a team meeting during which Shelton, who took over for Rocco Baldelli this offseason, gave a speech hitting on a number of topics including intent, accountability and the group sticking together.

New team executive chair Tom Pohlad also spoke, and Shelton said called his message “passionate,” and “from the heart.”

“When we walked out of that meeting this morning, there was a really good feeling about the messaging I think we wanted to get across,” Shelton said.

While pitchers and catchers have been in camp for days and all of the position players had already reported by Sunday, Monday’s workout saw an extra flurry of activity.

Like every year, hope springs eternal in the early days of a new season. Even if the expectations of the team aren’t high outside of the clubhouse — projections and betting lines have them as a sub-.500 team — there’s optimism within the clubhouse.

“It feels like everyone’s excited for the year. You can genuinely feel that,” third baseman Royce Lewis said. “I think we’re ready to shock people. We don’t even have to say anything about it. People just keep writing us off. Whatever. That’s fine. I’m ready for that.”

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Many aspects of these Games have been more enjoyable for Giorgia Birkeland than her Olympic debut in 2022.

United States’ Giorgia Birkeland competes in the women’s 1500m speed skating time trials at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Rho, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

“Last time was not even a comparison,” the speedskater from White Bear Lake said.

For one, it was still in a COVID-era of competition, where competitors were bunkered down and sporting masks in Beijing.

“There was like no congregating, no pin exchanges, really,” she said. “It was very not social at all.”

This time around, Birkeland is getting the full experience. She has explored the village and has the food schedule down.

“It’s way more fun,” the 23-year-old said. “It’s very cool.”

Everything is also more comfortable, in part because she knows she belongs.

Four years ago, Birkeland’s Olympic berth was a bit of a surprise. And while she earned it via her performance leading up to the Games, she didn’t feel like she was meant to be there — even as she finished 12th in the mass start at Beijing.

“Before, racing at the Olympics felt more like a threat,” Birkeland said. “It didn’t feel like an opportunity. I had imposter syndrome to the max. It was my first international competition, and I was really the newbie. …  I didn’t necessarily feel super prepared. It was like a surprise. You didn’t really know what to expect.”

The circumstances have flipped in Italy where, coincidentally, Birkeland was born. The Mahtomedi High School alum is part of the U.S. team pursuit, which races in the semifinals at 7:52 a.m. Tuesday and then, if all goes well, in the finals shortly thereafter.

She goes into the races confident, ready and excited.

“I’ve been preparing for this moment this entire year, so it feels way sweeter,” Birkeland said. “Rather than it being like, ‘Oh, I have to do this thing,’ it’s like, ‘Oh my god, this is what I’ve been working all year towards, and I get to do it.’”

She earned this, and she’s going to savor it. Birkeland plans to retire at season’s end, meaning this will be her final Olympics, and it almost never came to be after – quite literally – a false step.

It was the fall of 2024, Birkeland believes it was September, and the athlete rolled her foot while walking and broke a bone in her foot.

She couldn’t walk, nor bear weight. The injury sidelined Birkeland for months. She missed nearly the entire World Cup campaign that winter.

“My whole season was gone,” she said.

Was her career? Birkeland trains in Utah, but there wasn’t a lot of support available during her recovery. She wasn’t on the national team, which was tied up in World Cup competitions at the time. Her coach had recently been let go.

Birkeland credits her sister, her teammates and former Olympic speedskating gold medalist Derek Parra for helping her push a rehab grind that largely involved daily pool work.

Not exactly the most enjoyable experience.

“It made me bunker down and be like, ‘OK, is this something I really want?’” Birkeland said.

Which was an immediate, “Yes,” correct?

“No,” Birkeland said. “I feel like I was thinking about quitting like the entire time.”

Even when she was able to return to the ice, coming back from “Ground Zero” presents its own challenges. But she was able to return for the tail end of the World Cup season and recorded a time that qualified for “A” funding, which provided motivation and validation.

By the summer, Birkeland decided she was going to compete for one more season and take one more hack at the Olympic dream.

Brittany Bowe of the U.S., front, is followed by teammates Mia Manganello, center, and Giorgia Birkeland, right, as they compete in the women’s team pursuit quarterfinals speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

“I’m like, ‘OK, I only have one year left after this, I might as well make it count,’ ” she thought.

She’d picked up good habits from her rehab process. The sunset of a career provides necessary urgency. Everything Birkeland did was intentional.

The payoff was this trip to Italy, this experience, Tuesday’s pursuits that, unlike in 2022, she’s thoroughly excited to skate.

“I honestly can’t wait to race. I want to prove it to the world, I want everyone to watch, because this is our time to shine,” Birkeland said. “It feels a lot different than four years ago.”

Largely thanks to the lessons she has learned along the way.

“I feel like, honestly, (I’ve learned to) just make the most out of it. Understanding that life is a journey,” Birkeland said. “Even the Olympics, it’s like a destination with the medal. But really, I think the best gold medal was the journey I was able to go through, the people I was able to meet and the things I was able to learn about myself.”

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By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

Investigators working on the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother are consulting with Walmart management to develop leads because a backpack the suspect was wearing is sold exclusively at the stores, the Pima County, Arizona, sheriff said Monday.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Arizona home on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.

Yellow flowers and signs remain at a vigil outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty O’Neil)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door in Tucson the night she vanished. A porch camera recorded video of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, a jacket and gloves.

Pima Count Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday that the 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack was the only clothing item that has been “definitively identified.”

“This backpack is exclusive to Walmart and we are working with Walmart management to develop further leads,” Nanos said.

This combo from images provided by the FBI shows surveillance footage at the home of Nancy Guthrie the night she went missing in Tucson, Ariz. (FBI via AP)

The suspect’s clothing “may have been purchased from Walmart but is not exclusively available at Walmart,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday. “This remains a possibility only.”

Investigators on Sunday announced that a glove discovered near the Guthrie home has been sent for DNA testing. The FBI said that it received preliminary results Saturday and was awaiting official confirmation. The development comes as law enforcement gathers more potential evidence and as the search for Guthrie’s mother heads into its third week. Authorities previously said they had not identified a suspect.

The FBI said the suspect in the surveillance footage is a man about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a medium build.

Authorities have expressed concern about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and have dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.

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People around Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year on Tuesday, Feb. 17, the start of the Year of the Horse.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors:

A worshiper wears a horse head decoration at Wong Tai Sin Temple to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Horse in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Monks pray on the eve of the Lunar New Year celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A vendor, right, holds a grilled pig for selling for Lunar New Year celebrations on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, ahead of the Lunar New Year. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A humanoid robot wearing a traditional headdress is displayed during a media preview of a robotic temple fair ahead of Lunar New Year in Beijing, China, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Lion dancers perform at a market in preparation for the Lunar New Year celebration in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026.( AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
People attend the Lunar New Year festival at Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
People burn joss paper money as an offering to ancestors ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Horse in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, Feb 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
A woman uses her mobile phone to take photos of a performance during the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Horse in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Local Chinese artists group gather to perform during celebration of the Lunar New Year of the Horse at Thuwunna stadium Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
Fire performers carry a dragon during a molten iron fireworks performance known as “fire dragon steel flowers” ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at an amusement park on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
People wearing South Korean traditional “Hanbok” costume take photos on the eve of the Lunar New Year at the Gyeongbok Palace, the main royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty, in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)