Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez out 8-12 weeks with shoulder strain
Pablo Lopez #49 of the Minnesota Twins delivers during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field on June 1, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Twins announced during Wednesday night’s game against the Oakland A’s Pablo Lopez will be out eight to 12 weeks with a strain in his throwing shoulder.
Pablo Lopez injury
What we know:
Lopez left Tuesday night’s start against the A’s after five innings. He threw three warm-up pitches before the bottom of the sixth when something didn’t feel right. He motioned to the trainers to come out, and he left the game.
An MRI Wednesday revealed he had a Grade 2 strain of the teres major muscle in his right shoulder. He’ll be out up to three months, which means the earliest he would return is sometime in September.
Blow to Twins' rotation
Why you should care:
Twins officials say the earliest Lopez would begin a throwing program would be a month from now. No further updates are expected from the team until then. It’s a big blow for the Twins, who are 34-27 and are in second place in the American League Central Division.
The Twins placed Lopez on the 15-day injured list on Thursday. Lopez is 5-3 in 11 starts with a 2.82 earned run average with 61 strikeouts in 60.2 innings.
It comes at a tough time, just when the Twins were starting to get fully healthy again as Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa are both back on the field after being in concussion protocol.
The schedule
What's next:
The Twins are going for the series sweep against the A’s Thursday afternoon before starting a six-game homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays Friday at Target Field.