FORT MYERS, Fla. — What began as an inspired first full-squad day at the Minnesota Twins’ spring training complex ended on a sour note Monday when Pablo López left his throwing session early with right elbow soreness.
At the start of his third inning of work, López exited a live batting practice session after throwing two pitches. Nobody with the Twins knew the severity of López’s elbow issue and the team won’t know until after the All-Star pitcher undergoes an MRI.
The possibility of the Twins finding themselves in a bind long before the season begins March 26 put a damper on the impassioned speech new Twins executive chair Tom Pohlad gave to those gathered in the home clubhouse about the organization’s direction, an address in which he mentioned the importance of communication and accountability.
Working with limited information, Twins manager Derek Shelton wouldn’t speculate on López’s status, preferring instead to remain optimistic.
“It’s some soreness, and we want to be abundantly careful because it’s Feb. 16,” Shelton said. “I look for the good things that happened. … I don’t live in a speculative world. It’s a terrible place to be in this game, because we’re always speculating about what’s going to happen or what’s not going to happen. You don’t do that, because you end up worrying about 90 percent of the stuff that never comes to fruition. Right now, I’m taking that we had a really good day, he felt some soreness. We’ll get it looked at, and move on from there.”
Monday was only the team’s first full-squad workout, but López is ahead of schedule as he prepares to pitch for Venezuela in next month’s World Baseball Classic. His first two innings went without a hitch. But shortly after returning to the mound for a third time, López headed back to the dugout to report his soreness to pitching coach Pete Maki.
Losing López for any length of time would be damaging to the Twins’ hopes of a turnaround. The right-hander went 5-4 with a 2.74 ERA in 14 games in 2025, missing about three months with a Grade 2 strain of the teres major muscle of his right shoulder. López returned to make three starts in September before he going on the injured list with right forearm tightness, an injury sustained when he dived for a ground ball. The subsequent MRI showed no serious damage. López was cleared to participate in a normal offseason throwing program.
If the Twins are to surprise the sport — which Pohlad believes they will do — strong starting pitching will be paramount. A rotation fronted by López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober is seen as the club’s strength.
Wanting to give players an understanding of the team’s new leadership trio, Pohlad spoke to the club for 10 minutes before turning it over to Shelton. The start of Pohlad’s speech focused on how accountability begins with the ownership group, noting how the family had gotten off track over the past few years. Pohlad also discussed the need to rebuild trust.
Twins reliever Liam Hendriks was impressed by the address. He previously encountered the owners of a few of his former teams, including the Oakland A’s, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. But none compared to Pohlad on Monday.
“Never, as far as that impassioned of a speech,” Hendriks said. “That was cool to see, and there’s a lot of care behind it. He’s understanding that we haven’t been good. He acknowledged the weaknesses that we have, and you embrace them moving forward. I liked the accountability thing. … There was some thought behind it, wasn’t just a spur of the moment thing. There was some substance.”
Pohlad hopes to establish a new culture and used his speech to let the players know he’s spending a month in camp to build relationships and improve the lines of communication.
“Talk is cheap,” Pohlad told reporters.
“I can’t outsource earning back the trust of our fans or of our employees or of the players,” Pohlad continued. “That work’s got to be done by me.”
Shelton thought Pohlad’s message struck a chord with players. Others in the room agreed.
“He dominated his message this morning,” Shelton said of Pohlad. “I think it really resonated with the players. It was passionate. It was from the heart. It was succinct. It could not have gone any better.”
Pohlad thinks his team will outperform its modest projections. FanGraphs projects the Twins to finish 80-82 while BetMGM’s over/under line for victories is 73 1/2.
“That’s ridiculous,” Pohlad said. “I’ve been consistent from the beginning (saying) that we feel confident in this team and that we think what you see, the talent we have, is stronger than maybe you guys or the fans are giving the roster credit for. We’re very confident in what this group of people can do together.”
Pohlad, who assumed the role of point man well after free agency began, suggested the Twins might have operated differently if he’d taken over six months earlier. He also confirmed reports that his team pursued Detroit pitcher Framber Valdez in free agency. Pairing him with López and Ryan would have given the Twins a tremendous “1-2-3 punch.”
The team’s recent additions — they signed relievers Hendriks and Andrew Chafin to minor league deals and traded for Anthony Banda, another bullpen arm — may not have met the hopes of Twins fans awaiting a more significant investment. But Pohlad said those moves were more a symptom of timing than an indication of the team’s willingness to make a key addition. The Twins are open to adding salary in a trade as long as it’s a good decision for the team, Pohlad added.
“What we’ve done between that time and now is less a function of what we wanted to do, but more a function of the reality of the market,” he said. “We got here two months ago and we’ve done what we can do between now and then.”
But hours after Pohlad addressed the Twins, the image of López walking off the mound in discomfort highlighted the reality of the uphill battle facing Pohlad’s team. Even if López avoids major injury, the team is still fragile enough that one serious setback would deal a devastating blow to its chances of contending.
“Why would I worry about that right now?” Pohlad said. “We’re focused on having a great season and I think we’re going to have a good season. Period.”