Joe Ryan

Ryan had a roller-coaster season for the Twins as he had a 2.98 ERA with a 9.65 K/9 and 0.91 WHIP through his first 15 starts of the season. He then seemingly ran out of gas by posting a 8.63 ERA and 1.81 WHIP over this next seven starts before he went on the injured list with a strained groin. His final eight starts after he returned were not much better (5.90 ERA) and the Twins limited him to one short two-inning start in the playoffs. Ryan doesn't have great velocity (92.3 average mph fastball) but has an extremely deceptive four-seam fastball that helped him generate an excellent 29.3% K% and 14.2% swinging strike rate. His weakness is as a fly-ball pitcher (31.6% GB%) he can be prone to the long ball. Home runs were especially an issue last season with a career-worst 1.78 HR/9 driven by a high 14.9% HB/FB%. He usually limits the damage for home runs by typically having one of the lowest walk rates in baseball (5.1% BB%). Ryan will be counted on at the top of the Twins rotation and could improve significantly if he can keep the ball in the park and improve one of his off-speed pitches, which all took a step backward last year. Read Past Outlooks