Another hit to the Twins rotation.
Minnesota Twins right-hander Mick Abel hit another snag in his recovery on Thursday.
Abel, who went on the 15-day injured list April 20 with right elbow inflammation, felt soreness after throwing a simulated bullpen on Saturday and received a cortisone shot in his tricep, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
It is the latest blow to a pitching staff that came into 2026 with legitimate depth but has been picked apart by injuries since.
Timeline Still Up in the Air
The Twins will re-evaluate Abel on Tuesday, and assistant general manager Alex Hassan said Thursday that the club is still a ways from knowing when he might return.
"They're going to re-evaluate him on Tuesday & then in terms of timeline, (trainer Nick Paparesta) wants to get him throwing," Hassan said. "Once we get him throwing, we'll know when he's going to get off the mound & then can build a timeline from there."
That is a lot of steps before anyone circles a return date.
Abel had been trending well in recent days after manager Derek Shelton said the 24-year-old resumed playing catch and that all signs looked encouraging.
Saturday's sim game was supposed to be the next checkpoint, so feeling tricep soreness there is a real gut punch for a 16-21 club sitting fifth in the AL Central.
Abel Was Finding His Groove
What makes this so tough is the timing.
Abel was just starting to look like the pitcher the Twins envisioned when they traded Jhoan Duran to get him from Philadelphia last July.
His first two outings were rough, but he followed those with back-to-back gems that nobody in the front office could ignore.
He threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts against Detroit on April 9, then went seven scoreless with a career-high 10 punchouts against Boston on April 14.
Through four appearances, Abel sat at a 3.98 ERA with 23 strikeouts across 20 1/3 innings and a 2.79 FIP that suggested the surface numbers were only scratching what he could do.
Arms Dropping Left and Right
Abel being out only adds to what has been a brutal stretch for Minnesota's pitching health.
Pablo Lopez is gone for the year after Tommy John surgery.
David Festa has been on the 60-day injured list with a shoulder impingement since before Opening Day, and Joe Ryan had to leave his most recent start early with elbow soreness.
Reliever Garrett Acton is shelved with a shoulder strain, and the bullpen has been among the shakiest groups in baseball through six weeks.
Connor Prielipp, the club's top pitching prospect, has stepped in with two strong starts in Abel's place, but the organization keeps losing arms faster than it can replace them.
The Twins came into 2026 expecting their rotation to be the backbone of this team, and owner Tom Pohlad went on record saying this needed to be a strong season for the franchise to keep building.
Losing Abel for any real stretch only makes things harder.