The start of the baseball season is special, and it begins today for the Minnesota Twins - and it's also extra special for pitcher Joe Ryan.
That's because Ryan has been tapped as the starter for today's season opener in Baltimore against the Orioles. A first-time All Star last year, Ryan is getting the start in part because Pablo Lopez, who started the last three openers, is out for the season after Tommy John surgery.
But most Twins fans may not remember that this is not Ryan's first opening day start. He actually was on the mound for the team during the 2022 opener against Seattle, a 2-1 Twins loss, the year before Lopez joined the team.
"Ready to go pitch. I'm excited," Ryan said. "It's always an honor to get the nod, so it's fun to be out there again. And, yeah, it's a baseball game, so I'm just excited to get the season rolling. We had a good group and it's been fun. So we're ready to go play baseball."
The opener is in Baltimore, which Ryan says is a tremendous ballpark to play in, and even has some special personal meaning.
"Yeah, it's a beautiful ballpark," Ryan says. "My high school coach is from the area, so he's a huge Orioles fan and just always heard so many good stories and the good times he had here. So yeah, it's kind of a cool spot."
Ryan has plenty of new faces in the dugout, including the manager. Derek Shelton is making his debut as the skipper of the Twins, returning to Minnesota where he was a bench coach and then a stint managing the Pittsburgh Pirates. And even though this team will look a lot different to Twins fans, he's good with that.
"Very comfortable, and it would have been very comfortable if we would have added a couple of the guys that we made late spring decisions on," Shelton explained. "But very comfortable with this group, very comfortable with how they've all blended together, and overall how they played in spring training."
After being fired in Pittsburgh early in the 2025 season, Shelton is excited to be back in Minnesota and not letting this opportunity to guide another team pass him by.
"It's a privilege to be part of a team opening day, and opening day is a special day," Shelton adds. "I've always said I think it should be a national holiday. Everybody should get out of school, you stop work, because I mean people rally around teams and they rally around the sport in general. So I'm very excited about it and I think even more so this year because of the fact that last year, what happened to me, the privilege of putting a uniform back on."
As far as expectations for the team, they're on the low side to be sure. Two straight disappointing seasons after a playoff series win in 2023, led to a fire sale of players last summer and the end of manager Rocco Baldelli and President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey. Most of the betting houses have the Twins in the 70-75 zone for wins, right about where they finished in 2025.
Health will have a big say in that, as will the emergence of young players the club is hoping are ready for some big league success, including keeping All-Star Byron Buxton in centerfield, getting a healthy and productive Royce Lewis, and the development of younger players like Luke Keaschall.
That also includes pitchers like Mick Abel and Taj Bradley. Ryan expressed excitement about both pitchers, saying they're a tight group already.
"Yeah, it's super exciting," Ryan said. "I think it's cool just to have them both here. "It's like, kind of little connections. Obviously Taj and I got drafted together and just seeing what he's been able to do with the Rays. Has always been fun to watch that development and to have him over here now."
The bullpen is a major question mark, something even Shelton admitted to when he told WCCO's Chad Hartman on Wednesday it will be a bit of an unknown to start the season.
"Not the people in the bullpen, because I trust the group we have and like them," he said. "It's just the fact that I think we're still in a little bit of, and I don't know if I'm gonna use this right, so don't quote me on it, fluidity of our bullpen in terms of what roles guys actually pitch in. And I think in some sense, that guys are gonna pitch themselves in and out of leverage roles especially. So that's probably the first thing, I think we're still working through."
Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore; Thursday, 2:05 p.m. (Pregame 1:30 p.m. on 830 WCCO, 102.9 the Wolf, or the Audacy app)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Joe Ryan (0-0); Orioles: Trevor Rogers (0-0)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Orioles -139, Twins +118; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Baltimore Orioles host the Minnesota Twins in the season opener.
Baltimore went 75-87 overall and 39-42 in home games a season ago. The Orioles pitching staff had a collective 4.61 ERA while averaging 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings in the 2025 season.
Minnesota had a 70-92 record overall and a 32-49 record on the road last season. The Twins averaged 8.0 hits per game last season while batting a collective .238.
INJURIES: Orioles: Jordan Westburg: 10-Day IL (ucl), Jackson Holliday: 10-Day IL (finger), Heston Kjerstad: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Keegan Akin: 15-Day IL (groin), Andrew Kittredge: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Felix Bautista: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Colin Selby: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Twins: David Festa: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Travis Adams: 15-Day IL (tricep), Pablo Lopez: 60-Day IL (elbow)
