Two weeks ago, Pablo López admitted he’s still got the itch.
“I want to do it,” López said. “I want to be able to tell myself I was able to come back from this injury and pitch and perform at the level I know I can perform. … I want to have a regular offseason where I can follow the progression I’ve been following the last couple of years.”
López has to know the stakes will be different. The eighth-year veteran from Venezuela hit his apex two years ago when he pitched seven scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the ALDS. López consciously controlled his breathing throughout the outing, knowing a mistake pitch at any point could change the game.
The Minnesota Twins left Houston with the series tied 1-1, believing they could advance to the next round.
Instead, the Twins experienced a slow descent immediately afterward.
Houston beat them 9-1 two days later, then polished them off 3-2, eliminating the Twins by taking both games at Target Field. Ownership cut payroll in the offseason, and Minnesota collapsed for the second time in three seasons.
The Twins ran it back this year. They started 7-15, won 13 straight games, and then blew up the roster after they had a sub-.500 record at the trade deadline.
“We didn’t have a common mentality of like, when you lose, there are still positives, there are still ways to pick your teammates up, so the energy level doesn’t crash all the way down,” López said recently, summarizing the season.
“When we were good on the field, we felt so great. But when things didn’t work, the feeling went from such a high to such a low, and we weren’t able to kind of keep it medium. We couldn’t keep our continuum more level, and it made it so much harder to get out of it.”
López suffered a teres major strain in his shoulder after pitching five innings in a 10-3 win over the Athletics on July 3. It’s the same injury Joe Ryan suffered before Minnesota’s collapse in 2024. The Twins won the next game 6-1 over the peripatetic A’s, advancing to 34-27 on the season. However, the Twins lost their next three games, marking the beginning of the fall.
The Twins experienced a six-game losing streak in late June, which dropped their record to 36-37. They beat the Cincinnati Reds on June 19 to reach .500, then lost five straight games to fall to 37-42. Series losses to the Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies, and Washington Nationals near the deadline sealed their fate.
López hit the gym during Minnesota’s free fall. Once the team doctors cleared him to work out, he got after it.
Working out on the injured list is different from staying in shape during the season. It’s more like training in the offseason. Pitchers can go all-out in the gym, knowing they don’t have to make a start on a regular rotation.
Pitching puts enough strain on the body. When López is healthy, he typically works out after games and then on the third day after his bullpen session. Any more exercise, and he risks injury or being fatigued during his starts.
López had to be careful while his shoulder was recovering. However, once it stabilized, he started adding mass. He usually focuses on staying in shape in-season, but he knew he would be on the injured list until September. So López went all out until the doctors told him to taper, just as he would before the start of spring training. He said he was looking good and feeling good.
On Tuesday, López threw four innings in St. Paul. His fastball sat at 93.8 mph, but he got it up to 95.2 mph, which is closer to his average when he’s pitching well.
Pitching against the Toledo Mud Hens had to feel like table stakes compared to his playoff start in Houston two years ago, or even his last start this season against the A’s in West Sacramento. Still, he was back on the mound, competing against Triple-A hitters 12 miles away from Target Field. López is tantalizingly close to returning.
It will feel different than his masterful performance in Houston, or even making a start for a 33-27 team two weeks removed from a 13-game win streak. He’s pitching for a team that will probably trade him in the offseason to save money. The outcome of the game will hardly matter, aside from the ephemeral euphoria that any win provides.
Still, López has that itch. That latent desire to compete, no matter the circumstances.
