{"id":772943,"date":"2026-07-20T00:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/772943\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T00:26:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:26:31","slug":"twins-thoughts-internal-options-thin-ahead-of-trade-deadline-as-abel-festa-likely-out-for-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/772943\/","title":{"rendered":"Twins thoughts: Internal options thin ahead of trade deadline as Abel, Festa likely out for season"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 If the Minnesota Twins bolster their pitching staff in the near future, there\u2019s a growing likelihood that the help will come from outside the house.<\/p>\n

Though Mick Abel and David Festa haven\u2019t explicitly been ruled out for the season, the team\u2019s latest injury timelines suggest that the right-handers won\u2019t pitch again in 2026.<\/p>\n

Abel, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow July 1, won\u2019t even know when he can resume playing catch until a scheduled Sept. 1 checkup. The regular season ends Sept. 27.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Festa, who\u2019s on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement, has been slowed down again and is seeking a new opinion after showing symptoms of a potential recurrence of thoracic outlet syndrome<\/a>, Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said.<\/p>\n

With the Aug. 3 trade deadline only two weeks away, it\u2019s increasingly likely the Twins will need to acquire pitching help if they hope to compete for a postseason spot. Zoll said before Sunday\u2019s 10-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs that trade talks are picking up now that the All-Star break and the amateur draft are complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to have everyone kind of pop their heads back up and start to get organized, checking in,\u201d Zoll said. \u201cEverything remains extremely congested on a day-to-day basis around the league. I still think there\u2019s going to be a lot of sorting out around the league for this coming week. But everyone is trying to get organized. \u2026 We\u2019ll be busy on the phones.\u201d<\/p>\n

2026 Aces Project update: MLB insiders rank starting pitchers<\/p>\n

Andy McCullough<\/p>\n

This was an unproductive weekend for the Twins, who lost a game in both the American League Central standings and the wild-card standings after dropping two of three to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Twins are four games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and two back of Boston, winners of 13 straight<\/a>, in the wild-card race.<\/p>\n

Still, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Taj Bradley are all scheduled to start for the Twins during a four-game road series that begins Monday against the Cleveland Guardians. If they can at least split the series, the Twins will head home to play the struggling Athletics and Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n

As constructed, the Twins are in desperate need of high-leverage depth and could use an additional starting pitcher, especially with Abel unlikely to return.<\/p>\n

Abel may not be able to throw until four weeks after his Sept. 1 checkup. Even if he were cleared for action at that appointment, he would effectively be starting from scratch.<\/p>\n

Also, the team recently decided to slow down Festa during a three-week buildup aimed at getting him throwing off the mound. Festa, who was diagnosed with TOS during the 2025 season, received a stem-cell injection prior to the buildup. He\u2019s still throwing occasionally, but is scheduled to see Dr. Robert Bowers this week and could be in line for another injection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thinking that they are actually now back to TOS-related symptoms, but not 100 percent certain of that,\u201d Zoll said.<\/p>\n

Here are several more thoughts following a blowout loss and the end of a six-game winning streak in series rubber matches:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Fortunately for the Twins, Sunday\u2019s loss only counts once. The game was unofficially over by the third inning, as Zebby Matthews was punished for two hanging sliders and Luke Keaschall made a critical misplay on a bases-loaded liner to center field that resulted in three runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game got out of hand early and stayed out of hand,\u201d Twins manager Derek Shelton said. \u201cWe just flush it and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a stuff perspective, Matthews looked good. He also got ahead in counts throughout the start, throwing 61 strikes and only 26 balls. But his execution stunk, and it cost him.<\/p>\n

Facing Alex Bregman with a man on third in the first inning, Matthews left a 2-2 slider up and over the middle, and it wound up in the left-field bleachers for a two-run homer.<\/p>\n

An inning later, Carson Kelly got enough of an 0-2 slider to single up the middle and bring in a run.<\/p>\n

Everything fell apart in the third inning when Bregman and Ian Happ drew consecutive walks on nine and 10 pitches, respectively, to load the bases. Nico Hoerner followed by lining an 0-2 fastball to center, a ball that skipped past Keaschall and rolled to the fence for a three-run triple.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was super simple,\u201d catcher Ryan Jeffers said. \u201cWe had gotten ahead, we got advantage counts, we got two strikes, we just couldn\u2019t put it away. That was it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the 11th time this season the Twins allowed at least 10 runs in a game, but the first since June 23.<\/p>\n

\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

\n Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) reacts after striking out in the sixth inning of Sunday\u2019s loss. (Matt Marton \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Twins remain optimistic Byron Buxton could return this week, as he increased baseball activities each day in Chicago. Buxton felt good enough to add in defensive work with outfield coach Grady Sizemore on Saturday, and he also hit in the cage, Shelton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hope is that he comes back during the Cleveland series,\u201d Shelton said.<\/p>\n

The Twins are 37-38 when Buxton starts. They\u2019re 12-13 without him, though they won road series against the Houston Astros and New York Yankees without the three-time All-Star earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Twins are 12-21 against National League teams this season. They\u2019re 37-30 against AL opponents.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Connor Prielipp (blister) struck out three over three scoreless innings at Triple-A St. Paul in a promising tuneup Sunday. Prielipp, who went on the 15-day IL on July 9, is scheduled to throw a bullpen before the Twins determine his next step. He could slot into the team\u2019s rotation at some point in the upcoming homestand.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Cole Sands is closer to returning after striking out three over two scoreless innings Friday for St. Paul. Out since May 2 with a right forearm strain, Sands still needs to appear in games on two out of three days before he is eligible to return.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been down for a while,\u201d Zoll said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get him fully built back, workload-wise, and check off a number of boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Marco Raya (right shoulder impingement) is scheduled for a two-inning, 35-pitch outing Tuesday after pitching an inning for St. Paul on Saturday. Raya\u2019s velocity this weekend was in line with his season average.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 If the Minnesota Twins bolster their pitching staff in the near future, there\u2019s a growing likelihood…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2326,363,99],"class_list":["post-772943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}