MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins placed starting pitcher Joe Ryan on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a significantly strained muscle in his throwing shoulder, an ill-timed setback entering a critical homestand against two division rivals and primary competitors for postseason spots.
Ryan has a Grade 2 strain of the teres major, a thick, flat muscle that runs from the shoulder blade to the upper arm, the Twins announced before beginning a four-game series against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians. Manager Rocco Baldelli said Ryan would be sidelined for “weeks to months” but stopped short of declaring him done for the season.
The right-hander, who is 7-7 with a 3.60 ERA, 23 walks and 147 strikeouts in 135 innings over 23 starts, was removed from his most recent turn on Wednesday when he felt discomfort after throwing a pitch in the third inning.
“Yeah, it is a punch in the gut,” Baldelli said. "It’s going to need time to heal up, and he’ll do everything he can to get himself right and get back, but this is going to be a little while.”
Ryan will seek a second opinion before the Twins reveal a timetable for his recovery, but with a little more than seven weeks in the regular season the window is tight.
Starting pitcher Chris Paddack has been out for three weeks with a strained forearm, and his return is “not right around the corner,” Baldelli said, though president of baseball operations Derek Falvey added later that the right-hander was close to beginning a throwing program with the goal of returning for more regular season action.
The Twins, who ultimately passed on the high prices for starting pitching before the trade deadline last month, now have two rookies in their rotation indefinitely with David Festa and Simeon Woods Richardson trying to do their part behind Pablo López and Bailey Ober.
“When you get to a deadline and things don’t work out the way you want, you know you’re going to have to lean on your internal guys,” Falvey said. “We believe a lot of our internal group is capable of stepping into these roles and can play a role for us down the stretch.”
Louie Varland was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to start the second game of the doubleheader on Friday against the Guardians, who took a 3½-game lead on the Twins in the division race into the series.
“You’re never going to be like, ‘We’re going to make a trade because someone is going to go down,’ or, ‘We’re not going to make a trade because everyone is going to stay healthy,'” López said. “Obviously, hindsight is easier than foresight. It definitely makes it a little tougher. Teams that get people at the deadline and go through this, they’re able to hold off a little longer.”
The Twins also placed rookie infielder Brooks Lee on the 10-day injured list with right biceps tendinitis. Infielder Kyle Farmer, who has missed 18 games with a strained right shoulder, was activated early from his rehab assignment to replace Lee.
Reliever Scott Blewett was promoted from Triple-A St. Paul, and reliever Brock Stewart was transferred to the 60-day injured list after the diagnosis that he needs arthroscopic shoulder surgery that will end his injury-ruined season.
The Twins got center fielder Byron Buxton back in the lineup on Friday from a three-game absence due to a back injury stemming from a catch he made while colliding with the wall. But All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa, whose absence because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot is approaching one month, remained sidelined with no rehab assignment yet on the schedule.
“I don’t know that we’re going to get to a place where he’s going to feel 100%, but you’re at a stage of the season where I’m not sure how many guys out there are actually 100%," Falvey said. "I think Carlos is going to figure out the right time for him. We just trust him so much around how he feels, what he can play through, what he can navigate through."
Correa said he's begun sprinting without significant pain, but he's waiting to see how the foot reacts in the coming days to determine if he's ready for the next step.
“We were hoping I would come back earlier than it’s taken," Correa said. "At the same time, we’re doing what we can control and we’re working as hard as possible every single day to get back on the field. There is nothing I want more to be out there with the guys again. I’m looking forward to that day.”
The Twins will get no sympathy over the state of their rotation from the Guardians, who placed starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco on the 15-day injured list with a strained left hip on Friday. He'll rest for three or four days before resuming throwing, manager Stephen Vogt said.
Staff ace Shane Bieber is out for the season following elbow surgery. Tanner Bibee, who avoided the injured list after having his last start pushed back due to shoulder tightness, was cleared to start the series finale in Minnesota on Sunday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Minnesota Twins' Austin Martin scores on a single hit by Brooks Lee during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan, right, reacts as he leaves with a team trainer after an injury during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan throws against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of protesters pushed into Mexico's Senate on Tuesday as lawmakers weighed a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, forcing the body to take an indefinite recess for the safety of the senators.
The shut down came just hours after Mexico's ruling party, Morena, appeared to have wrangled the votes it needed to jam through the proposal after at least one member of an opposition party was accused of flipping to support it.
That move and other political maneuvering ahead of a vote on the plan championed by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador fueled even more outrage after weeks of protests by judicial employees and law students.
Critics and observers say the plan, which would have all judges elected, could threaten judicial independence and deal a severe blow to the system of checks and balances.
Some protesters entered the Senate chambers in an effort to block the vote after they said lawmakers were not listening to their demands.
“The judiciary isn’t going to fall,” yelled the protesters, waving Mexican flags and signs against the overhaul. Others outside the court roared when newscasters announced the Senate was taking a recess.
Among them was Alejandro Navarrete, a 30-year-old judicial worker, who said that people like him working in the courts “knowing the danger the reform represents” came to call on the Senate to strike down the proposal.
“They have decided to sell out the nation, and sell out for political capital they were offered, so we were forced to enter the Senate," he said, carrying a Mexican flag. "Our intention is not violent, we didn't intend to hurt them, but we intend to make it clear that the Mexican people won't allow them to lead us into a dictatorship.”
Despite unrest in recent weeks, the plan sailed through the lower chamber of Congress last week, and was passed onto the Senate, where López Obrador's Morena party lacked the necessary supermajority to approve it. In recent weeks, it was able to peel off two senators from an opposition party, but came into this week still missing one more.
It was unclear where that vote would come from because the country’s opposition vehemently opposes the plan. But over the weekend, observers began to speculate that a senator from the conservative National Action Party (PAN), Miguel Ángel Yunes Márquez, would support Morena as he refused to answer calls from his party leadership.
On Tuesday, Yunes Márquez announced he would take leave due to health issues and be replaced by his father, Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares, a former governor of Veracruz.
While the father and son did not immediately confirm that they were switching to support the overhaul, Yunes Linares strolled into the Senate chambers and was met with applause and chants of “hero!” by Morena senators and screams of “traitor!” from his own party.
One PAN senator, Lilly Téllez, even threw dozens of coins at Yunes Linares, calling him a ”traitor who sold out his country" for his own benefit. A Senate vote was expected Wednesday.
The national head of PAN, Marko Cortés, claimed that it “is evident” that there was an “impunity pact” between the Yuneses and the government so he would vote in favor of the overhaul. Cortés was referring to a July arrest order for Sen. Yunes Márquez, for alleged falsification of documents and fraud related to his candidacy.
Yunes had challenged it and got a temporary suspension, calling it a political persecution by the governing Morena party, the same party his father now appears ready to support.
His father, Yunes Márquez, dodged questions from the press about how he would vote on Tuesday, but accused Cortés of “lynching” him and claimed it was “absolutely false” that he has been coerced to vote for the overhaul. He was flanked by two Morena senators as he spoke.
“I’m not a traitor, I’ve never betrayed anyone,” he said. The accusations “aren’t democracy. I am coming here to act completely freely.”
A Yunes vote in favor would allow the ruling party to clear the biggest hurdle in making the proposal law. If it passes the Senate, it will have to be ratified by the legislatures of 17 of Mexico's 32 states, but the governing party is believed to have the necessary support.
The plan has received fierce criticism from within and outside the country.
López Obrador — a populist long averse to independent regulatory bodies, who has long ignored courts and attacked judges — claims his plan would crack down on corruption by making it easier to punish judges. Critics say it would handicap the judiciary, stack courts with judges favoring the president's party, allow anyone with a law degree to become a judge and even make it easier for politicians and criminals to influence courts.
It has spooked investors and prompted the U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar to call it a “risk” to democracy and an economic threat.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A judicial worker protests the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Judicial workers, one wearing a "lucha libre" wrestling mask, protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
