The Twins can't catch a break on the mound. Kendry Rojas, the 23-year-old lefty who's been one of the lone bright spots in an injury-ravaged rotation, is headed to the injured list with an oblique strain, per MLB Trade Rumors.
This one stings more than most. Rojas, Minnesota's No. 10 prospect, was traded from Toronto to the Twins last July alongside outfielder Alan Roden in the deal that sent Louis Varland and Ty France the other way. He made his big league debut this season and immediately looked the part, posting a 3.34 ERA with a 26.2% strikeout rate across nearly 30 innings — command questions and all.
The injury reportedly cropped up during a Triple-A St. Paul start, where Rojas exited after just one inning. Now it puts the rest of his season in real jeopardy, and it couldn't come at a worse time for a Twins rotation that's already been gutted.
Joe Ryan has been out since early August with a left glute strain, and Mike Paredes — who'd been filling a similar swingman role to Rojas — is also nursing a strained oblique. That's now two arms in the same role, on the same injury, in the same stretch run. Minnesota was leaning on unproven pitching to hold together a playoff push, and the depth chart just got a lot thinner.
For a team trying to squeeze into October, losing a live rookie arm who was outperforming expectations is the kind of thing that changes the math. Expect the Twins to dig further into their farm system or bullpen to patch things over — but replacing what Rojas was flashing in limited big league time won't be easy.