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Twins’ Pablo Lopez gets brutally honest on his injury recovery
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- Twins’ Pablo Lopez gets brutally honest on his injury recovery
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The Minnesota Twins ruled Pablo Lopez out for the entire 2026 season before spring training even got started after he suffered a UCL tear in his right elbow. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, Lopez is steadily going through the injury rehab process and opened up about the recovery in a recent interview.
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In the latest episode of "Twin Cities Territory," with Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the 30-year-old ace revealed his mental approach to recovering from the injury. While it is a tough process, Lopez claims he is not only focusing on recovery but also on finding ways to improve his game as a pitcher.
"I think of going through rehab, I think of like, getting better, getting back to pitching," said Lopez. "But I also think of growth. I want to evolve. I want to get better in a lot of different things because we all know it's a year-long rehab. 12 months are going to go by, whether I do it right or do it wrong. 12 months are gonna go by, whether my only focus is rehabbing and pitching, or whether I still try to grow in a lot of things.
"So, might as well take advantage of the time," continued Lopez. "Getting back to pitching is my North Star. That's a priority. I want to get pitching. I want to come back better than ever. But I also don't want 12 months to go by, where, like, where did time go? What else did I do with my time? What else did I do with my 12 months?"
Injuries have plagued Pablo Lopez's last two seasons. In 2025, he dealt with multiple issues, most notably a significant right shoulder injury and a late-season forearm strain, which limited him to just 14 games that year.
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However, when healthy, the eight-year veteran was as good as ever. He finished the 2025 campaign with a 2.74 ERA (career-best) and 1.110 WHIP (career-best) with 73 strikeouts in 75.2 innings pitched. While he won't return at all in 2026, there is still reason to believe Pablo Lopez can be an ace once again for the Twins in 2027.
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