MINNESOTA -- The Twins placed right-hander Pablo López on the 15-day injured list on Saturday with what the club is calling a “mild mid-forearm strain.” The move will end his season, since there are only nine days left in the campaign.
While López will not pitch again in 2025, there does seem to be some relief following his formal examination on Saturday morning. There is not currently any concern regarding a possible elbow or ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury. If the season were not coming to an end, it is possible that López would have simply skipped a start rather than going on the injured list. But with the compressed timeline, the decision was made to shelve him.
“All things considered, best-case scenario, best possible news,” said López. “Just with the timing of where we are in the season with seven games to go, eight days to go, there’s no need.”
“It’s probably one of the best outcomes we could have hoped for,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We sent him in, he gets looked at, it’s a minor strain, kind of mid forearm, not anywhere you’d be troubled by seeing, and we think if it wasn’t at this point in the season, he’d be able to go out there and pitch.”
López, the Twins’ Opening Day starter, finishes the year with a 5-4 record in 14 starts, and a 2.74 ERA over 75 2/3 innings. He missed three months due to a muscle strain in the back of his right shoulder, then made only three starts upon his return before suffering the forearm strain.
The injury occurred in the third inning of the Twins’ loss Friday night, when López made a diving play on a ground ball that had hit him in the leg. He landed awkwardly on his arm, and though he felt no discomfort at first, his arm tightened up as he continued pitching. He was pulled after four innings.
“One of the ways we put it is, 'Offseason starts today,'” López said. “Obviously I’m going to be with the team, I’m going to be moving around, I’m going to be making myself useful in any way. But I should be able to, whenever I decide to start throwing again, get my offseason progression and build-up going.”
It’s been a mixed season for Abel, who was acquired from the Phillies in the Jhoan Duran trade. He’s been dominant in Triple-A but consistently searched to find his footing at the Major League level. Abel was charged with 12 runs in four innings over two previous appearances with Minnesota after posting a 5.04 ERA in six starts with the Phillies.
In five starts with St. Paul, Abel sports a 1.85 ERA and has fanned 33 batters in 24 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old relieved Bailey Ober in the sixth during Saturday’s nightcap and showed both extremes of what he could do on the mound.
Abel retired the first eight batters he faced, three via strikeout, but he had trouble finding the zone in the eighth and the Guardians were able to capitalize, eventually padding their 6-0 lead with a two-run single from Steven Kwan.
The Twins sent Abel back out for the ninth and he rebounded from struggles in the previous frame, facing the minimum with two strikeouts and a groundout. He’d end the night throwing four full innings, allowing one hit, three walks, two earned runs and striking out six, which represents his best outing with the Twins to date.
“He was throwing 99 in the first inning out there and he can spin the ball real good,” said Baldelli. “I think he’s harnessing all of his stuff and learning different ways to use it against good hitters.”