Twins pitcher Joe Ryan out for ‘weeks to months;’ Brock Stewart facing surgery; Brooks Lee goes on injured list

The Twins finally got some definitive news about the health of two of their most important pitchers on Friday.

Now they wish they hadn’t.

Joe Ryan, the Twins’ most reliable starting pitcher over the season’s first half, will miss “weeks to months,” manager Rocco Baldelli said, after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain of his teres major, a muscle behind his pitching shoulder — a far more serious injury than the team had hoped. Ryan, reportedly shocked by the diagnosis, will seek a second opinion with the Twins’ encouragement, but it appears unlikely that he will pitch again in 2024.

And Brock Stewart, a setup reliever who didn’t allow a run this season until experiencing pain in his shoulder in May, will undergo arthroscopic surgery next week and miss the remainder of the season.

“I wish this season went differently. I wish I was helping out way more,” said the 32-year-old Stewart. “But [I’m] also kind of relieved to know that it’s going to be fixed and I’ll have a clean slate for next season.”

Maybe so, but the absences leave the Twins’ pitching staff shorthanded as the season enters its final seven weeks. Louie Varland, who started Friday’s second game of a doubleheader against Cleveland, figures to play an unexpectedly crucial role in their chase of a second straight AL Central crown, in a rotation that already includes two rookies. Triple-A prospect Zebby Matthews is now a possibility as well.

And the bullpen will go on without the long-anticipated return of Stewart; for now, the Twins have replaced him with 28-year-old Scott Blewett, a righthander with five games of major-league experience, and none since 2021.

“The reality is, we’ve got to navigate through this. … Our guys have seen next-man-up moments across the last few seasons, even at our best moments,” said Derek Falvey, the Twins president of baseball operations. Still, he admitted, “The Joe [injury] hurts. He’s been one of the key centerpieces of our rotation for a long time. The [bullpen injuries], we’ve been navigating for a little while now.”

Stewart returned from the injured list on July 24 and pitched three times, each of them increasingly ineffective. His final outing, in which he allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning last Monday against the Mets, “made things worse,” Stewart said. “It hurt. It hurt to throw. … So I’m getting a scope, getting [his shoulder] cleaned up. I’ll be good to go for spring training.”

Dr. Timothy Kremchek will perform the surgery in Cincinnati, he said.

Ryan walked off the mound at Wrigley Field during the third inning Wednesday after experiencing what was initially diagnosed as triceps tightness. Ryan and the team were hopeful the condition was minor, and Ryan said he felt only minor pain. But imaging showed that “Joe has a legitimate strain and it’s something that has to heal,” Baldelli said. “This is going to be a little while. … Yeah, it’s a punch in the gut.”

Pitchers aren’t the only Twins getting hurt these days, either. Shoulder soreness also became too serious this week for rookie infielder Brooks Lee to keep playing, and he went on the 10-day injured list Friday with biceps tendinitis. The Twins activated veteran Kyle Farmer, whose own shoulder injury has kept him sidelined for a month, to take Lee’s place.

“Brooks has been playing with this for awhile,” Baldelli said, “and it’s not only not improving, it’s getting a little worse.”

Meanwhile, Carlos Correa, who last played on July 12, has progressed to sprinting, an important milestone as he recovers from plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

“We’ll see how it reacts in the next couple of days,” said Correa, who has been testing a variety of footwear to see if it makes a difference. “It’s not quite where we want it to be yet, but we’re working toward getting there.”

• Righthander Chris Paddack, on the injured list since the All-Star break, “is tracking really well. He’s feeling really good,” Falvey said. Paddack visited Dr. Keith Meister, the surgeon who performed his Tommy John elbow surgery, in Dallas recently, and “he felt like his flexor has really healed in a good way, so there’s a real chance that we start a throwing program with him really soon.”

• Justin Topa, a veteran reliever acquired in the Jorge Polanco trade with Seattle, “has had some moments of arm fatigue” as he rehabs from a knee injury that has kept him from joining the Twins this season, Falvey said. “So [we] slow down and then pick back up. We’re going to make sure he gets another outing [in St. Paul] and see how he responds. … We don’t have a specific date for his return.”

• Infielder Luke Keaschall, who played for the Twins in the Futures Game in July, will miss the remainder of the minor league season as he heads for Tommy John surgery.

• The Columbus Clippers scored twice in the top of the 10th inning, defeating the Saints 5-3 at CHS Field. DaShawn Keirsey hit a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the game. Saints starter Aaron Rozek went six innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs.