CLEVELAND — The Minnesota Twins’ recent struggles worsened on Saturday as starting pitcher Taj Bradley was placed on the 15-day injured list with a chest injury.
The 25-year-old right-hander, who has been the team’s best starter this season, was scratched from Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians due to right pectoral muscle inflammation. Bradley posted a 4-1 record with a 2.87 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 47 innings this year.
After reporting soreness on Thursday, Bradley returned to Minneapolis for an MRI, which returned clean. He will now seek a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister before the Twins decide on a treatment plan.
“We just wanted to be aware of it and get it looked at,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “Any time we get an MRI that comes back that’s clean, that’s best-case scenario. Once we get through the second opinion, then we can start a course of action to get back to whatever our performance team feels is necessary.”
To replace Bradley, the Twins promoted right-handed pitcher Travis Adams. Since returning from a right triceps strain, Adams has allowed six earned runs in eight minor-league innings while striking out 10.
The injury news came just hours before Saturday’s game in Cleveland, which will be started by Joe Ryan. Ryan is ready to pitch despite leaving his last start early with right elbow soreness after nine pitches. An MRI showed no structural damage, and he threw a bullpen session Wednesday without issue.
The Twins’ rotation has been hit hard by injuries for nearly three months. Pablo López underwent Tommy John surgery in February and is out for the season. Promising rookie Mick Abel has been slowed by right elbow inflammation and triceps soreness, receiving a cortisone shot earlier this week. The team will re-evaluate Abel on Tuesday.
Acquired in last July’s Griffin Jax trade, Bradley has looked like a future ace, using a high-velocity fastball and a sharp mix of off-speed pitches to live up to his top-25 prospect ranking.
