Twins get good news on Joe Ryan, who may not miss a start

WASHINGTON — With an off day Monday, Twins fans had to wait one extra day for news on Joe Ryan’s right elbow. The wait yielded good news.

Ryan and the Twins, it turned out, knew Sunday that things weren’t as bad as they initially seemed after he left the game in the first inning with elbow soreness. The starting pitcher had imaging taken on his elbow shortly after that revealed no structural damage.

Tuesday, he played catch pregame at Nationals Park. On Wednesday, he’s expected to throw a bullpen. If all goes well, it’s possible that Ryan could start this weekend in Cleveland against the Guardians as initially planned.

“Definitely a lot of emotions going through the last couple days. But yeah (it) felt really good just to throw the baseball, and it felt comfortable coming out of my hand,” Ryan said.

Ryan said he felt some discomfort on a few different pitches that he threw to Toronto third baseman Kazuma Okamoto in the first inning. Being that it was in his elbow, there was some obvious concern, so he gestured towards the dugout and immediately left the game after a quick chat with manager Derek Shelton and a trainer.

The pitcher ran through some quick tests with the Twins’ team doctor, Dr. Chris Camp, and went for magnetic resonance imaging almost immediately.

“It was quick,” Ryan said. “The longest I probably thought about it was while I was hanging out in the tube.”

He said he didn’t feel too much discomfort in his elbow, but he has been surprised in the past when test results haven’t matched up with how he has felt.

“You never know,” Ryan said. “I think the injuries I’ve had in the past have been — it wasn’t this excruciating pain or anything crazy and then I’ve been optimistic on the other side and then had bad results there. So I think this time around having good results was obviously a win-win and reassuring.”

It certainly is, particularly with fellow top-of-the-rotation starter Pablo López already out for the season and Mick Abel on the injured list.