Twins’ Pablo López, out for season, receives positive news about his elbow

Pablo López is out for the final week of the 2025 season, placed on the 15-day injured list with a mild mid-forearm strain Saturday, but it was the best possible outcome after the Twins righthander left Friday’s game because of an injury.

López underwent medical imaging Saturday morning, and there were no concerns with his elbow or his ulnar collateral ligament.

“It’s no secret my mind was in the worst-case, catastrophic scenario,” said López said, who felt a jolting pain in his elbow. “Any time you feel something in your elbow, it’s kind of natural for your mind to go to what we call Tommy John surgery or whatever.

“All things considered, best-case scenario and best possible news.”

Manager Rocco Baldelli said if this injury happened at a different point in the season, López may have missed one or two starts. With a week left in the season, however, it will end his year.

The Twins recalled Mick Abel, who pitched four innings in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

López injured his right forearm in the third inning Friday when he grabbed a loose ball and flipped it to first baseman Kody Clemens in one motion, falling to the ground and landing partially on his arm.

There is an empty locker between starting pitchers Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober inside the Twins clubhouse that houses two replica Clayton Kershaw jerseys.

Ryan bought his Kershaw jersey about three years ago, but he left it at his dad’s home. His dad, Kurtis, brought it to the All-Star Game, though Ryan decided to wait until the Twins played at Dodger Stadium a week later to ask Kershaw to sign it.

“I followed sports basically through the radio,” said Ryan, who grew up a San Francisco Giants fan in Northern California. “I’d watch whatever Giants game at night every once in a while, but it was mostly radio updates on the way to school with my dad. It’d be like Clayton Kershaw, a 14-strikeout game, every other one in the 2010s. I was like, this guy is insane.”

Neither Ryan nor Ober had an opportunity to meet with Kershaw, who announced this past week he will retire at the end of the season.

Ober was on the injured list when the Twins played the Dodgers, and Kershaw has been flooded with autograph requests from fellow players throughout the year. He often signs them with his accomplishments, “3X NL Cy Young, 2014 NL MVP, 2X WS Champ!”

Ober, who hoped to introduce himself to Kershaw if he had been healthy in Los Angeles, cherished the chance to start opposite Kershaw in a game at Dodger Stadium in 2023. Ober and the Twins won 5-1.

“I knew it could be his last [season], so that was one of the main reasons why I wanted to get that jersey signed and try to see if I could shake his hand and get to talk to him a little bit,” Ober said.

The Twins ended a streak of seven games with a stolen base Saturday, their longest streak since they did it in 10 straight games in July 2004. The rules, of course, are more conducive to stealing bases with a pitch clock and a limited number of pick-off attempts, but the Twins have proven successful at it.

Since Aug. 20, when manager Rocco Baldelli told players to run more aggressively in a team meeting, the Twins lead the majors with 44 stolen bases in 50 attempts, an 88% success rate.

“You’re seeing guys who would have the green light at times really show improved jumps, anticipation and timing,” Baldelli said. “Normally, some guys really prepare to steal bags. Other guys don’t because it’s not necessarily part of their game, but what you’re seeing now is every position player on the roster is treating it like they’re [Byron Buxton] almost.”

“It’s something that we not only have to hold onto, but we have to continue to build off,” Baldelli said. “Every player that comes here, whether you call them up, trade for them, any type of change to the roster, they’re going to have to take note that this is the kind of baseball this team is going to play.”