Twins pitcher Joe Ryan will make major league debut Wednesday against Cubs

Calling it the right time and place, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli will hand the ball to rookie starter Joe Ryan for his big-league debut Wednesday night in the series finale against the Chicago Cubs.

The timing is right after Ryan followed Tokyo Olympics appearances for Team USA with two impressive strikeout performances at Class AAA St. Paul.

The right place is Target Field when Baldelli could have started Ryan this weekend at Tampa Bay, the team that traded him in July in a deal for Nelson Cruz.

"We were looking for a day that made sense," Baldelli said. "Not sending him back to face his old club? We could help it. We didn't have to pitch him down in Tampa Bay. We thought it made sense to just let him come into Target Field, get settled in and make his first start. It just made too much sense to really contemplate any other days."

Ryan struck out 17 and walked two over nine combined innings in two games with the Saints.

"I'm just going to make pitches until they take the ball away," Ryan said after that organizational debut against the Iowa Cubs. "I try not to set a goal of how many innings I want to go or what I want to do. It puts a little too much pressure and you start making tense pitches rather than just filling it up."

Included in that debut upon his Olympic return: He struck out the first six batters and nine of 12 he faced in four innings.

"We're looking forward to watching him show up and do his thing," Baldelli said. "He has been throwing the ball well all year long, everywhere he has been — and he has been in a few places."

In a season when Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson have carefully measured their young pitchers' workload, Ryan is set for what Baldelli called a "good, full start."

"We haven't thrown a lot of our younger pitchers out there for 100, 110 pitches," Baldelli said. "But Joe is in a good place mentally from everything I hear, and he's able to give us a start that would be a very typical, good start for him."

Byron Buxton on Tuesday again batted second and played center field, one day after he doubled Monday in Detroit. Until then, he had been 0-for-11 in the first three games after he returned Friday from the injured list. He singled in Tuesday's first inning and made a diving catch in the second.

"I have no concern about Buck," Baldelli said. "I know he has been playing for a few games now, hasn't had too many hits. I'm sure he's not happy about that. I'm sure it won't be too long before he's doing a lot of damage out there doing this thing."

Injured pitcher Michael Pineda is set to throw a live bullpen session before Wednesday's game. Injured catcher Mitch Garver will stand in and watch some pitches.

Pineda sustained a mild oblique strain two weeks ago. Garver experienced low back tightness a week ago.

"After that, I think it's safe to discuss what's next for him," Baldelli said. "We have some ideas how that will work."

Baldelli called Garver's condition a "day-to-day thing."

"We're looking for that day when he comes in and he's feeling noticeably better," Baldelli said. "He's fine to get in there. It's not like he's completely locked up, but he's still feeling some soreness there."

• Baldelli said he should know about starting pitcher Kenta Maeda's elbow surgery in Dallas on Wednesday before he leaves the ballpark that night.

• Veteran slugger Josh Donaldson on teammate Bailey Ober's winning six-inning outing at Detroit, all 6-9 of him: "To be as large a human as he is, that definitely plays into it. It's just a different look, facing a guy that big. You don't get to see that very often."

• Second baseman Jorge Polanco made a rare start at designated hitter Tuesday while Donaldson played third and Luis Arraez second.

Staff writer Phil Miller contributed to this report.