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Minnesota Twins Blame A’s Ballpark for Injuring Star Players
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- Minnesota Twins Blame A’s Ballpark for Injuring Star Players
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Twins just completed the longest road trip of their season, and it will go down as the most interesting as well. Not only did they start in Tampa Bay and finish in Sacramento, but they played two of their three series in minor league ballparks.
Tampa Bay is playing their home games at Steinbrenner Field because Tropicana Field was shredded by Hurricane Milton. The Athletics are playing at Sutter Health Park because John Fisher has shredded the franchise.
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Although the Twins only noted nuances like wind patterns and a lack of upper deck capacity as outliers for the Rays facility, the Athletics facilities earned multiple thumbs down.
Joe Ryan calls out Athletics field for injuring Pablo Lopez
Pablo Lopez was pitching against the Athletics on Tuesday and left the game in the 6th inning with a lat strain. We now know he's going to miss multiple months with the same injury Joe Ryan suffered for the Minnesota Twins last season. His rotation-mate called the mound into question when talking with The Athletic's Dan Hayes .
"The first thing I thought of was Wheeler saying, 'I was all arm when I was here. Does that play into that? Someone was mentioning it. We're in the big leagues, and we have these amenities for a reason. It's to get prepared and go inside if you need to for a second. Whatever your routine is, you can't do that here. You can't do that in Tampa. As (Lopez's) teammate, it makes it sting a little bit more. I don't think Pablo is the kind of guy that's going to say (the mound was the issue), but I'll say it."
Ryan pitched in Sacramento the day before Lopez did for the Twins. He allowed four runs on six hits and went just five innings. That was among his worst outings of the season, and for a guy that came in with a 2.57 ERA (3.20 FIP) it's notable.
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Athletics free agent acquisition Luis Severino has been critical of the home field situation all season. You can quickly think about the clubhouses being located beyond the outfield wall, but the pitching surface itself sounds like a problem as well. Severino has a 6.99 ERA in eight home starts (46.1 IP) with just a 0.87 ERA in five road starts (31.0 IP).
Pablo Lopez pulled himself out of the game with an injury after one warmup pitch before the 6th inning pic.twitter.com/RFV5qIPYoR
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 4, 2025
There are few people capable of qualifying the quality of a pitching surface more than someone that started on the same one a day prior. If Ryan felt like he was unable to get into his legs, and heard Phillies starter Zack Wheeler say the same things , then it's not surprising he'd question how Lopez got hurt.
It's unfortunate that the Minnesota Twins now have to deal with the potential fallout related to a lackluster playing surface. The Athletics chose this path, but Major League Baseball approved it.
Not just the mound says MN Twins Carlos Correa
Carlos Correa returned from the concussion injured list on May 23 against Kansas City. He played 10 straight games but then sat out the final two against the Athletics with what was diagnosed as back tightness. He had feelings about what may have caused the ailment as well.
"It's not the same spot. It's a little higher, which is why I know it's (the batter's box) because it's never happened to me before. I haven't changed anything in my routine for it to be that. The only thing that's changed is me slipping every time I take a swing.
The plate here is killing me right now. It's very slippery. … For us that play with moldings, it's a tough time getting grip on the plate, but it's better than your feet hurting."
The Minnesota Twins star shortstop doesn't mean the plate specifically. He is talking about the batter's box. Correa wears a molded version of Shohei Ohtani 's New Balance Ohtani 1 . The lack of metal spikes are a benefit to his feet which have cost him time due to bouts with plantar fasciitis the past two years while rocking Nike cleats.
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With his back hurting after two games, and the playing surface not up to par, there was no reason for Correa to push things.
Once again, it's disappointing that the playing surface is not up to par for major league action. There are no two places on a big league field more impactful than the pitching mound and batter's box. For Major League Baseball to allow the Athletics a subpar product with multi-million dollar athletes at stake, is wild.
Minnesota returns home Friday for a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays . After a drubbing to leave Sacramento, they promoted pitcher Travis Adams as an additional bullpen arm.
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