Twins' Joe Ryan to Rest Days for Back Inflammation

Minnesota Twins All-Star right-hander Joe Ryan experienced lower back tightness during spring training preparations in Fort Myers, Florida, leading to his scratch from a scheduled appearance in Saturday's Grapefruit League opener against the Boston Red Sox. An MRI conducted that day revealed only inflammation, and the team anticipates his full readiness for Opening Day later this month.

Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll provided the positive update on Sunday, stating that Ryan would rest for a few days to allow the inflammation to subside. "He's just dealing with some inflammation and as a result has some tightness," Zoll said. "So he'll be down for a few days here just to let things calm down. We'll progress him as tolerated and don't envision this impacting his readiness for Opening Day." Manager Derek Shelton noted the issue arose during Ryan's pregame routine, describing it as more than typical day-to-day soreness, which prompted the immediate imaging.

The 29-year-old Ryan, who is set to make his first Opening Day start, enters the season following a breakout 2025 campaign. He finished with a 13-10 record, a 3.42 earned-run average over 171 innings in 30 starts, and 194...