Minnesota Twins Congratulate Pablo Lopez for Award Nomination

Minnesota Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez has not thrown a single pitch this season. The 30-year-old veteran is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery after suffering a torn UCL in his right elbow, with the issue first surfacing during spring training in February. An MRI confirmed the procedure was necessary.

It has been a huge blow to the Twins rotation to not have Lopez in the mix. This year they have gotten contributions from Joe Ryan, who has emerged as the team's ace in Lopez's absence, and Taj Bradley, who has grown more comfortable in his second season with the club.

Despite those contributions, Minnesota enters Tuesday owning a 70-80 record and is most likely not heading to the playoffs this year due to a lack of pitching depth.

Had Lopez been available, this year may have played out differently. In 2025 he was still an excellent arm, posting a 2.74 ERA with 73 strikeouts across 75 2/3 innings of work, though he made just 14 starts due to multiple injury setbacks including a right shoulder strain and forearm strain.

Despite his constant battles with health, Lopez still represents the Twins organization with pride off the field, and earlier this week Minnesota took the time to recognize that.

"Congratulations to Pablo López on being named our 2026 Roberto Clemente nominee!! We are so grateful for all of the work Pablo does within our community ❤️," the Twins wrote on X.

Lopez's nomination is well deserved. Since joining the Twins in 2023 he has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to uplifting others, particularly young people and his native Venezuelan community.

He has taken underserved students on back-to-school shopping trips for four consecutive years and leveraged his fluency in four languages by visiting local high school classrooms and video calling into a Spanish immersion elementary school over 600 miles from Target Field.

Every September he honors Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by visiting patients at two local children's hospitals.

Following the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, Lopez immediately used his social media platform to raise awareness and funds, and designated his charitable giving through the Twins Community Fund to three organizations leading relief efforts.

He also teamed up with Guardians players during a Cleveland road trip for a pregame autograph signing event raising funds for Venezuelan earthquake relief.

On and off the field, Lopez exemplifies what the Roberto Clemente Award represents, and Minnesota was proud to put his name in the mix.