Twins place Joe Ryan (glute) on 15-day IL

The Twins suddenly have a vacancy in their starting rotation with Joe Ryan (glute) expected to land on the injured list, so Matthews will have another opportunity to show what he can do at the game’s highest level. The 26-year-old hurler holds a 5.22 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 69/26 K/BB ratio over 81 innings in 14 starts with the Twins this season.

Ryan suffered the injury during Tuesday’s start against the Royals. No word yet on how long he’s expected to be sidelined for, but it’s a massive blow to the Twins’ rotation as they’re trying to fight for a playoff berth in a weakened American League.

Shelton added that Ryan is headed back to Minnesota due to back and glute issues, which puts his availability for Sunday’s start against the Brewers in obvious jeopardy. The ongoing physical issues, which are impacting his ability to repeat his delivery, certainly explain his recent struggles as he’s allowed a staggering 17 runs — 16 earned — over 15 1/3 innings across three starts since the All-Star break. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status and outlook later this week.

It’s another poor start for Ryan, who has really struggled since the All-Star break. The right-hander had a 2.85 before his deserved selection to that contest, and this poor outing sees that mark jump up to 3.65 on the season. He allowed seven hits, issued a pair of walks and struck out three in this lackluster — at best — effort. He’ll try and right the ship next weekend, but the Brewers present another challenge for Ryan.

Yikes. Ryan followed up his stinker against the Guardians last week with another tough start after being pushed back with arm fatigue. This one wasn’t as bad as that eight run, six homer implosion, but still poor against a lackluster Royals lineup that was missing Bobby Witt Jr. They scored in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings and made plenty of hard contact on the way. In all, Ryan allowed 11 hard-hit balls and this rough patch is the last thing the Twins need as they try to fight for a Wild Card spot. His velocity was in line with his season averages though, so hopefully this is not a health issue. He’ll look to right the ship in a rematch against these same Royals next time out that will begin a two-start week where Ryan will also face the Brewers.

Minnesota manager Derek Shelton told reporters the expectation is that Ryan will pitch at some point against the Royals next week. The 30-year-old’s name is going to come up a ton in trade rumors over the next couple weeks leading into the trade deadline. Clearly, the Twins aren’t going to take any chances if he’s not feeling right from a physical standpoint. It doesn’t sound like a significant concern since the club hasn’t placed him on the injured list. There should be some much-needed additional clarity concerning Ryan’s next start at some point next week, but fantasy managers shouldn’t anticipate a lengthy absence.

He gets an extra day of rest after allowing six home runs to the Guardians in his last start. Twins beat writer Aaron Gleeman believes Connor Prielipp could draw the start on Saturday, assuming he’s activated off the injured list.

The six homers tied the major league record, with Ryan joining 11 other unfortunate pitchers. The last to give up that many were Miles Mikolas last season, Matt Swarmer in 2022 and Michael Blazek in 2017. Ryan’s stuff seemed fine, but everything the Guardians hit traveled a long way. Of the six homers, only four were barrels, and two would have stayed in play in over half of MLB’s ballparks. Ryan, who had allowed 10 homers in 110 1/3 innings coming in, saw his ERA rise from 2.85 to 3.38. He’ll face the A’s at home this weekend.

He’ll be followed by Taj Bradley on Saturday afternoon and Zebby Matthews on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The expectation is that Joe Ryan would then start on Monday against the Guardians in Cleveland. Ober is coming off of a decent first half where he registered a 4.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 51/19 K/BB ratio over 71 2/3 innings in his first 13 starts.

Ryan left with a one-run lead, which was blown in the seventh by Tommy Nance in his Twins debut. So, he finishes the first half 6-5 with a 2.85 ERA. Ryan has produced 11 quality starts, which doesn’t count a couple of outings in which he pitched five-plus scoreless innings.