Chicago – On Sunday morning, Minnesota Twins GM Jeremy Zoll provided injury updates from Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, the news on two of the Twins starters, Mick Abel and David Festa, wasn’t too encouraging.
Abel had successful arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow on July 1, and the Twins will shut him down for eight weeks. He has a follow-up appointment on September 1 before it can be determined if he can resume throwing. Even if Abel clears out, he will still need a 4-week throwing program to build back up, which essentially shuts him down for the 2026 season.
Festa felt a recurrence of symptoms in his right shoulder after a three-week bullpen buildup. Festa has been shut down and will see Dr. Bowers, a Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Sports Medicine doctor in Atlanta, to determine whether Festa has a recurrence of thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms.
“We are thinking that they are actually now back to TOS-related symptoms, but not 100% certain of that,” said Zoll. “We are going to have him go see Dr. Bauers in Atlanta this coming week. Tuesday and Wednesday, he has appointments down there in Atlanta.”
Festa had not thrown in a game at all in 2026, having been shut down after live BPs the week of February 22. Abel, on the other hand, had made two rehab starts in June with the St. Paul Saints but was shut down again after a bullpen session on June 20 when he experienced a setback.
Abel only made three starts and one relief appearance in the year for the Twins. He pitched a total of 20 ⅓ innings and posted a 3.98 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 1.57 WHIP, walked 10 batters, and struck out 23. His final start of 2026 will go down as his best. He pitched seven shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox, gave up just four hits, no walks, and struck out 10 batters.
Even with the starting rotation taking a hit as the trade deadline approaches, the Twins should at least have one starter, Connor Prielipp, on pace to return to the rotation before the trade deadline on August 3. Prielipp was scheduled to pitch three innings on Sunday for the St. Paul Saints and will throw a bullpen later in the week.
The Twins placed him on the IL on July 9 with a blister on his left middle finger.
Zoll also shared that the number of Twins relievers on the IL should relatively shrink in the coming weeks. Marco Raya, Cole Sands, and Garrett Acton are scheduled to make more rehab outings in the upcoming week.
Raya and Sands are scheduled to pitch on Tuesday against the Columbus Clippers at CHS Field. Raya will throw two innings or up to 35 pitches, while Sands will just get another inning of work in after throwing two scoreless innings on Friday night.
Acton will also throw two innings or up to 35 pitches on Wednesday, while his rehab assignment will remain in Low-A Fort Myers.
The Twins have been without their longest-tenured reliever, Sands, since April 28 while he battled back from a right forearm strain. Like Abel, he had originally started a rehab assignment on June 2 and had only one outing before experiencing a setback. There are still several boxes for Sands to check off in his buildup. However, once he can pitch two of three games, it could be a sign that he’ll soon rejoin Minnesota’s pen.
“I don’t know if it’s going as far saying he’s re-simulating a full spring training, but obviously he’s been down for a while,” Zoll said. “We’re trying to get him fully built back, workload-wise, and check off a number of boxes.”
