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This is a crazy scenario.
Minnesota Twins lefty Kendry Rojas was supposed to make his second career start on Thursday at Rate Field against the Chicago White Sox, but he never touched the mound.
About an hour before first pitch, Rojas told the training staff his throwing elbow didn't feel right, and the Twins pulled him from the start on the spot before sending him back to Minnesota for imaging that same night.
By Friday morning it got worse, with the Twins placing Rojas on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to Tuesday, which means the 23-year-old won't be eligible to return until mid-June at the earliest.
Manager Derek Shelton did not hesitate when explaining why the team held him out.
"After him talking to Nick [Paparesta, head athletic trainer] and Pete [Maki, pitching coach], we did not feel it was responsible at all to pitch him," Shelton said, and nobody around the organization pushed back on that because protecting a young arm with a fastball that touches the high-90s is not something anyone in that building was willing to gamble with.
That's what makes this so frustrating.
Rojas had been pitching well since Minnesota recalled him from Triple-A earlier this month, and Shelton acknowledged as much after the game.
"It's tough. He's been throwing the ball better, been trending better," the manager said, and the numbers backed it up.
Through five appearances and one start he posted a 1.26 ERA with 14 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings, flashing the stuff that made him the organization's top pitching prospect entering the season.
His first big league start came May 18 against Houston, four scoreless innings on two hits, and his most recent outing was three clean frames of relief against Boston on May 23.
Rojas came to Minnesota last July in the trade that sent Ty France and Louis Varland to Toronto, and after a slow climb through the farm system he'd finally worked his way into a real role.
Now he joins a pitching staff that has already lost Pablo Lopez for the season to Tommy John surgery, David Festa to a shoulder issue, and Mick Abel to elbow inflammation.
The rotation has been getting stitched back together all year, and losing Rojas just pulls another thread.
Without Rojas on Thursday, the Twins turned to Simeon Woods Richardson on short notice and he gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings with all of the damage coming on two-out rallies.
Minnesota dropped three of four in the series and fell to 27-29 on the season, while the White Sox improved to 28-27.
The Twins have now lost nine of their last 11 games against a Chicago team that went 60-102 in 2025.
This is the type of lopsided stretch that doesn't really have an answer beyond bad timing and a rotation that keeps running out of arms.
Minnesota heads to Pittsburgh next to wrap a 10-game road trip, and there's an extra layer to that series for Shelton since the Pirates fired him as manager last May.
Whether the Twins can stop the bleeding on this trip will depend a lot on who's left to pitch, and right now that list keeps getting shorter.
Continue reading...
Minnesota Twins lefty Kendry Rojas was supposed to make his second career start on Thursday at Rate Field against the Chicago White Sox, but he never touched the mound.
About an hour before first pitch, Rojas told the training staff his throwing elbow didn't feel right, and the Twins pulled him from the start on the spot before sending him back to Minnesota for imaging that same night.
By Friday morning it got worse, with the Twins placing Rojas on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to Tuesday, which means the 23-year-old won't be eligible to return until mid-June at the earliest.
Manager Derek Shelton did not hesitate when explaining why the team held him out.
"After him talking to Nick [Paparesta, head athletic trainer] and Pete [Maki, pitching coach], we did not feel it was responsible at all to pitch him," Shelton said, and nobody around the organization pushed back on that because protecting a young arm with a fastball that touches the high-90s is not something anyone in that building was willing to gamble with.
Rojas Had Been Trending Up
That's what makes this so frustrating.
Rojas had been pitching well since Minnesota recalled him from Triple-A earlier this month, and Shelton acknowledged as much after the game.
"It's tough. He's been throwing the ball better, been trending better," the manager said, and the numbers backed it up.
Through five appearances and one start he posted a 1.26 ERA with 14 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings, flashing the stuff that made him the organization's top pitching prospect entering the season.
His first big league start came May 18 against Houston, four scoreless innings on two hits, and his most recent outing was three clean frames of relief against Boston on May 23.
Rojas came to Minnesota last July in the trade that sent Ty France and Louis Varland to Toronto, and after a slow climb through the farm system he'd finally worked his way into a real role.
Now he joins a pitching staff that has already lost Pablo Lopez for the season to Tommy John surgery, David Festa to a shoulder issue, and Mick Abel to elbow inflammation.
The rotation has been getting stitched back together all year, and losing Rojas just pulls another thread.
Chicago Keeps Finding Ways to Beat Minnesota
Without Rojas on Thursday, the Twins turned to Simeon Woods Richardson on short notice and he gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings with all of the damage coming on two-out rallies.
Minnesota dropped three of four in the series and fell to 27-29 on the season, while the White Sox improved to 28-27.
The Twins have now lost nine of their last 11 games against a Chicago team that went 60-102 in 2025.
This is the type of lopsided stretch that doesn't really have an answer beyond bad timing and a rotation that keeps running out of arms.
Minnesota heads to Pittsburgh next to wrap a 10-game road trip, and there's an extra layer to that series for Shelton since the Pirates fired him as manager last May.
Whether the Twins can stop the bleeding on this trip will depend a lot on who's left to pitch, and right now that list keeps getting shorter.
Continue reading...
