Twins place starter Mick Abel on injured list with elbow inflammation

The Twins walked into spring training with an impressive amount of major-league ready starting pitching depth.

Their rotation was to be headed by Pablo López and Joe Ryan, a pair of all-stars. Behind them, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson had been rotation mainstays in recent years and Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel had each made starts for them last year.

It didn’t take long for that depth to get tested and then stretched thin.

López suffered a season-ending elbow injury early in spring training. Festa has a shoulder impingement and is on the 60-day injured list, and on Monday, Abel became the latest starter to land on the injured list, his stint due to right elbow inflammation.

It’s a tough break for Abel, who had shown in recent days just why the Twins were so excited about his future after acquiring him in a trade last July for closer Jhoan Duran. Abel gave up nine earned runs in his first two outings this season (7 1/3 innings pitched), but in his last two starts, he threw a combined 13 scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts. Abel limited the Boston Red Sox to just four hits in seven innings while striking out 10 batters just days before landing on the IL.

The Twins have not yet made a corresponding move to fill the roster spot, though they did announce that Woods Richardson would bump up a day and start on Tuesday against the New York Mets in Abel’s place. The Twins have not yet announced a starter for Wednesday’s game, but two top pitching prospects, Prielipp and Kendry Rojas, both left-handers, are expected to be with them in New York. In addition to Abel’s roster spot, the Twins will have another to fill as reliever will be placed on the paternity list.