Joe Ryan returns, shows positive signs as Twins roll past Yankees in Florida

TAMPA, FLA. — It’s been almost exactly seven months since Joe Ryan last pitched against an opposing team, so memories needed to be refreshed when the righthander made his spring debut on Thursday.

“I forget the facial expressions that he hits you with when he’s on the mound,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said after Ryan pitched two scoreless innings in the Twins’ 8-4 exhibition victory over the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field. “It’s been so long since I’ve caught him during the game, you forget that it’s constant weird facial expressions.”

The Twins got a reminder, too, of how smooth Ryan pitches when he’s healthy. He struck out four of the eight hitters he faced, three of them on called third strikes, regularly hit his normal 93-94-mph range with his fastball, and impressed manager Rocco Baldelli with his 37-pitch return.

“Great introduction to the season for Joe. He looked good,” Baldelli said. “He even threw a nice slider or two, that little sweepy pitch that he throws, and showed a little feel for it. He’s out there facing a good lineup, and he goes right at them.”

Ryan missed the final seven weeks of the 2024 season because of a shoulder strain.

Former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole went right at Matt Wallner and paid for it. The Twins’ right fielder, off to a 1-for-17 (.059) start to the spring, bashed a 3-2 fastball from Cole into the right-field seats in the second inning, a three-run homer that staked Ryan to a big lead.

Brooks Lee, Mickey Gasper and Mike Ford also homered for the Twins, who entered the game with the second-fewest runs scored in baseball spring training.

With Aaron Judge standing on third base and two outs in Thursday’s first inning, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm took a two-strike sweeper from Ryan, low and away. Ball two.

Except Jeffers disagreed, and tapped his helmet to challenge the call. The illustration appeared on the scoreboard: A sliver of the baseball had clipped the very bottom of the strike zone. Chisholm was out, the inning was over, and Jeffers walked off the field even more appreciative of the challenge system than he had been before.

“You’re standing there like, ‘Ah, nice! That was good,’” Jeffers said. “It’s going to be a fun system when they implement it,” perhaps as early as next season.

Jeffers also successfully challenged a call in the second inning, overturning a ball against Anthony Volpe.

“I’m starting to realize where the zone is at, up and down. Side to side, that’s a little bit more black and white than the up and downs,” Jeffers said. “The up and downs will be the ones that you have to really figure out where it’s at.”

Ryan isn’t certain he can figure it out, so he’s happy Jeffers has picked it up so well.

“We should just tell the umpires before the game, if I touch my hat, it means nothing. It’s just a suggestion to Jeffers for a challenge,” Ryan said. “I’m glad I didn’t challenge anything. He has such a better perspective and he’s so good at framing, that it’s hard for me” to be certain.

Baldelli said he’s pleased with how the system has worked out.

“Jeffers has done a good job with it,” the manager said. “He’s also the one working with the umpires behind the plate — it’s an interesting dynamic. But we’re learning something every game about this.”

Zebby Matthews made a nice hustle play in the fourth inning, grabbing a dribbler up the third-base line and throwing it to first base as he spun around, getting Paul Goldschmidt by a step.

It’s a play Matthews might regret.

The Twins pitcher’s right foot slipped as he made the play, and Matthews felt something in his right hip when he reached the mound again. Baldelli and a trainer came out, and Matthews was removed from the game.

“Just precautionary,” Matthews said afterward. “Just kind of aggravated it. … Definitely could have kept pitching.”

Still, it’s unlikely the Twins will allow him to pitch again until the hip completely heals, so he doesn’t change his mechanics.

“He’s got some discomfort,” Baldelli said. “We’ll evaluate him [Friday].”