Twins lose Mike Paredes to injury, Joe Ryan bumped back before shutout win over Athletics

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 25, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — Already light on starting pitching depth, the Minnesota Twins pushed back Joe Ryan’s next start for at least a few days and lost Saturday’s starter Mike Paredes to an oblique strain during pregame warmups.

With uncertainty surrounding the Twins starting rotation, Kendry Rojas struck out five batters across four scoreless innings in a true emergency start, and the Twins bullpen handled the final five innings in a 2-0 victory over the Athletics at Target Field.

Alan Roden delivered a two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning. The Twins offense has totaled only five runs over its last 30 innings.

The Twins learned about Paredes’ injury shortly before first pitch, delaying the start of the game by 10 minutes as Rojas received extra time to warm up. It turned into the beginning of the Twins’ third shutout win this season.

Go figure.

If Ryan was pitching on normal rest, Saturday would’ve been his start day. The Twins bumped him back to help him recover from what manager Derek Shelton labeled as “general arm fatigue.” Ryan threw a bullpen session at Target Field on Saturday and could pitch as early as Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals.

There are lot of short-term and long-term implications attached to Ryan’s status. The Twins need Ryan to stay healthy and pitch well for the remainder of the season to keep their playoff hopes afloat. There are interested contending teams wondering if he’ll be available before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, and any injury concerns would likely affect that.

Ryan was vague about what was bothering him before the game, noting it’s something he dealt with coming out of the All-Star break. Ryan gave up six homers, tying an MLB record, and eight runs in a loss to the Cleveland Guardians last Monday.

“We were working through some stuff for a little bit, and we were trying to figure that out,” Ryan said. “Obviously, it didn’t get figured out [last start]. So, just taking time to make sure we get everything all good.

“Injury-wise, am I concerned? No. Zero concern.”

The state of the Twins rotation remains a concern. They’re already operating with a four-man rotation, one short of their goal. Paredes, who split time between starter and reliever, could miss a significant amount of time because of an oblique injury.

Twins rookie left-hander Connor Prielipp is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale against the A’s after a stint on the 15-day injured list because of a blister on his left middle finger, providing some good news.

The Twins want to carefully manage Prielipp’s innings over the final two months of the season. He’s already thrown 85 1/3 innings between Class AAA and the majors, a career-high total. He threw 82 2/3 innings last year, and 58 innings in the previous five years combined due to multiple elbow surgeries.

Rojas, meanwhile, put all the concerns aside. He retired 12 of his 14 batters as he kept his pitches inside the strike zone.

After Rojas exited his scoreless outing, his fourth career start, Shelton gave him a hug and slapped his chest in the dugout. Assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez offered a fist bump. Fellow starting pitcher Taj Bradley immediately came over to congratulate him.

Four Twins relievers – Taylor Rogers, Tommy Nance, Andrew Morris and Yoendry Gómez – combined on Saturday’s shutout.

The Twins offense finally broke through in the sixth inning after Josh Bell drew a one-out walk and Royce Lewis hit a double. Roden followed with his two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning, celebrating with a fist pump at first base

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