Joe Ryan, recovered and confident, will start for Twins against Cardinals

ST. LOUIS - Joe Ryan has a model for how he hopes his first start in nearly eight months goes Saturday, and it’s one that should excite Twins fans, too.

Think five shutout innings in the winner-take-all fifth game of a division series. Or would one hit allowed in 6 ⅓ innings of a World Series start be OK?

That’s what Yoshinobu Yamamoto did for the Dodgers last October, four months after suffering a right triceps strain, the same injury that cost Ryan the final two months of his 2024 season.

“Something to build my confidence was watching Yamamoto throwing in the postseason. He had dealt with a similar injury — his was a bit worse than mine,” Ryan said of the Dodgers’ righthander. “So just seeing him do his thing out there, obviously a great pitcher able to come back from that, that’s a guy I was looking at.”

Yes, the Twins would take those types of results against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. But they would happily settle for what Ryan produced against the Red Sox last Sunday in Fort Myers, too — 4 ⅔ innings of three-hit ball, and only one run allowed.

Ryan struck out 17 batters in 13 Grapefruit League innings and said he’s not only completely healthy but excited to resume a successful career.

“There’s just something about getting the games back. It changes the mindset a little bit and just turns everything up,” said Ryan, who walked off the mound at Wrigley Field last Aug. 7 and didn’t pitch again. “You remember why you’re here and what you’re doing.”

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli sounded almost as eager for Ryan’s start as the pitcher.

“His stuff keeps getting better. He’s throwing strikes. The delivery looks the way it should. It all checked out,” Baldelli said of Ryan’s camp performance. “Everything has gone really smoothly. I was prepared for him to pitch this year and be ready for his first start.”

One thing that could get in the way of Ryan’s return: the weather. Rain is in the forecast Saturday morning and again Sunday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. but, as with Thursday’s opener, could be delayed if showers linger.

The frustrating part: The weather in St. Louis was sunny and warm Wednesday, when the Twins held a workout in Busch Stadium, and again Friday, the off day scheduled in case Opening Day, with its sellout crowd, was rained out. The rains seemingly only arrive on days when games are scheduled.

One unusual aspect of Pablo López’s loss Thursday was that in two different innings, Cardinals baserunners took off for second base before López had begun his windup. Both Lars Nootbaar in the first inning and Jordan Walker in the second appeared to be easy outs for López — but he couldn’t convert either one.

Second base umpire Mike Estabrook ruled that López illegally flinched in the set position when the Twins yelled that Nootbaar was running, and the Cardinals leadoff hitter was awarded second base on a balk.

In the next inning, López reacted properly, but his throw to second base was wild and flew into center field. Walker was actually charged with a caught stealing, having reached on the error.

Was breaking for second early a strategy on St. Louis’ part? López didn’t think so. He theorized they were trying to time his delivery and just got too anxious.

“Whatever [intention] they had, I feel like I could have gotten them out,” the righthander said. “Early breaks are confusing enough because they don’t happen too often. So if they think I was holding too short, I held the ball longer. But the second part is what they want — I screw up.”

More frustrating: Both runners eventually scored.

“If I would have just stayed a little more under control, slowed the game down a little bit, those could have been two free outs that could have been huge in the game,” López said.

David Festa pitched five shutout innings and combined with three relievers on a four-hitter, and Emmanuel Rodriguez had three of his team’s 18 hits as the Saints opened the season with an 11-0 victory over Indianapolis at CHS Field. Rodriguez and Jair Camargo each had three hits and two RBI, Jeferson Morales drove in three runs and Ryan Fitzgerald went 2-for-3 with two RBI.