In his first start back from the injured list, Tyler Mahle lasted only two innings before leaving last night’s game due to inflammation in his right shoulder. As a result, Mahle has been returned to the 15-day IL, with left-hander Jovani Moran recalled from Triple-A. Moran was only optioned to Triple-A yesterday as the corresponding move for Mahle’s activation.
Shoulder inflammation was responsible for Mahle’s previous IL stint, and he also missed three weeks in July due to a right shoulder strain. Since July 3, Mahle has appeared in only six games and tossed 28 1/3 innings, with his last four starts coming with Minnesota after being acquired by the Reds at the trade deadline.
The Twins hoped that Mahle would be a big boost to the rotation down the stretch, and he did at least contribute a 2.51 ERA over his first three outings in a Minnesota uniform (with the Twins winning all three of those games). However, given the recurring nature of his shoulder problems, it is fair to wonder if Mahle’s season could be in jeopardy.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) yesterday that Mahle was slated to undergo more examinations today, and implied that another IL stint was forthcoming, “What that means going forward? No one knows the answer to that yet. I’m not closing the book on him, this season, pitching for us,” Baldelli said.
As Park noted, Mahle’s start yesterday bore several similarities to the August 17 start that preceded his last IL visit. In both outings, Mahle’s velocity was down, and he threw only 37 pitches. The difference was that on August 17, Mahle still managed to hold the Royals scoreless in 2 1/3 innings, whereas the White Sox scored four runs in Mahle’s two innings yesterday en route to a 13-0 Chicago victory.
That loss dropped the Twins to 6-9 over their last 15 games. Despite a losing record (37-43) since the start of June, Minnesota remains only one game back of the Guardians for the AL Central lead, with the White Sox a game behind in third place. The division title may be the Twins’ best path to the postseason, as the Twins have fallen five games back of the last wild card berth.
Getting to the playoffs will be more difficult without Mahle, who is now the 17th player on the Twins’ extensive injured list. This list includes several notable regulars (i.e. Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Ryan Jeffers, Trevor Larnach) who are tentatively expected to return in September, but the Twins can hardly afford to be without such key personnel for so long.
Sonny Gray is also a question mark after leaving his start on Friday due to hamstring tightness, as Baldelli said Gray would have to throw a bullpen session and pass other tests before being allowed to make his next start. Gray is tentatively slated to start for Minnesota on Wednesday against the Yankees, but if he can’t pitch, that leaves the rotation even more short-handed.
Sad that three trades resulted in injured players.
Dyson, Paddock and now Mahle.
I think I would file a grievance on Mahle
What would the grievance be? Mahle’s recent shoulder problem was a known issue to everyone when the Twins acquired him.
Exactly, and I’m sure the Twiins did their due diligence on his shoulder. He obviously had to pass a physical before the deal was done. Sucks for both him and the team. As a Reds fan, I was looking forward to watching him pitch in the postseason.
Wow! This is shocking!!
… not
Either Twins coaching & trainers are incredibly inept, or they are manipulating the IR and conceding the division without a fight and using injuries as an excuse… or probably both are true.
Boooo Twins.
Stop being a minor league feeder for other teams.
pretty hard to do when you make trades and they don’t work out.
Wait, is this comment a joke? The Twins as a minor league feeder when they’ve had one bad season since 2018? Sure, it’s frustrating and suspect that multiple deadline acquisitions have been injured shortly after the trades, but are you ignoring Jorge Lopez and Michael Fulmer this year?
Not as much of a joke as the Twins.
Haven’t been bad since 2018? That is a joke. 2006 was our last competitive season. We haven’t had a legitimate top starter since Santana a decade ago. Most contending teams have 3 if not 4 pitchers better than our top pitcher. Contending teams have payrolls double ours. The twins have watched “our contending window” come and go with virtually nothing coming from our farm system. Meanwhile the tigers were contenders and spent like it for a decade. The royals went out and made a push and were the top team for years, Cleveland had a top rotation for ages – they just never signed anyone on the offensive side for some odd reason..
Twins org can’t field a team.. every player is hurt more than they play. they just keep signing the exact same players .. the ss/cf toolsy players that can’t stay on the field and 1b/dh types that don’t have a home and aren’t quite good enough hitting to earn playing time.
Lol. Not saying they’ve been a true top team in the league, but they’re usually competitive within their division. Not like they’ve been trading away superstars left and right.
We’re all real impressed.. we can finish in the top 2 or 3 places of the 5 teams that make up the worst division in baseball. Meanwhile.. if we somehow sneak into one of the much easier to achieve playoff spots due to expanded playoffs.. we look like a minor league team compared to the competition on paper – and play even worse than that – i.e. losing a game one with something like a 7 run lead after the first half of an inning.
Hope the Paddack and Mahle injuries don’t sour the front office on going out and buying more pitching. These days, you have to account for lots of attrition in your starting staff. It’s why teams like the Dodgers have 8-10 major league caliber starters most years between minors, majors, and IL.
Plus they rob any team that gives the farm up for their #6 starter
Correa signing, Buxton extension, Sonny trade, deadline deals. At least they went for it this year
Correa was dumped because his price tag was more than his worth… buxton is darn near the 30 yr old drop off – and is questionably playing to the level of his 1-1 pedigree for the first time since signing almost a decade ago… Sonny was a near elite pitcher almost a decade ago.
I mean they are good moves comparitively to what Twins normally trade do.. but still comes across as being desperate grabbing names that are recognizable, but not exactly worth what they get paid.