12 October 2023
The writing was on the wall for starter Joe Ryan early on with the Twins facing elimination against the Houston Astros.
Not long after Ryan served up a home run, things started to stir in the bullpen. Though he managed to get out of the frame without allowing any more runs, Ryan exited the game after a couple of innings, ceding the rest of the game to the collection of relievers.
Why did manager Rocco Baldelli decide to pull Ryan so early in the elimination game?
“Truthfully, in an elimination game like we were in today, there’s no need to ride our starter,” Baldelli said. “We wanted to get the best stuff out of Joe possible.”
In the end, the Twins suffered a 3-2 loss to the Astros on Wednesday night at Target Field, with lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar serving up the home run that proved to be the difference.
“I feel terrible about it,” Thielbar said. “I know it’s not all on me and that’s what everyone keeps telling me. That’s how it feels right now. It’s going to take a little while to get over it.”
Asked about being pulled from the game after only 26 pitches, Ryan didn’t seem to have much of a problem with it. As much as he wanted to stay in the game, he understood the Twins had a bunch of fresh arms in the bullpen. Why not use them in an elimination game?
“You don’t want to look back and not use some of those guys,” Ryan said. “I totally understand the approach.”
It started with reliever Brock Stewart, who pitched a clean inning, striking out a batter in the process. It continued with Thielbar, who surrendered a home run to first baseman Jose Abreu on a pitch that he actually thought he executed pretty well.
“I thought we had a really good plan against him,” Thielbar said. “I thought it was a good pitch, good location, good movement.”
Just not a good result.
After that, the Twins turned to reliever Chris Paddack, followed by reliever Griffin Jax, and finally, reliever Jhoan Duran. None of them allowed a run.
“Our pitchers did a good job tonight,” Baldelli said. “They threw the ball well.”
Indeed. The bigger issue for the Twins was the offense. They couldn’t muster enough run support with right field Max Kepler striking out looking to end the game.
Though the decision to pull Ryan so early will likely be scrutinized, catcher Ryan Jeffers noted that it’s not the reason the Twins lost the game.
“We’ve got all of our horses ready in the bullpen,” Jefferson said. “We tell Joe to go out there and give everything he’s got for whatever amount of time that is and today it was two innings. We turned the ball over to the bullpen, and outside of one swing, they threw the ball amazing. This game sucks sometimes.”
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