MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Ryan stated his case for his first career All-Star berth for three solid months, and it seems it wasn’t quite enough. He did it again on Sunday afternoon.
Ryan turned in a typically strong six innings for the Twins in a 7-5 loss to the Rays in 10 innings at Target Field, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. It was the 10th time in 18 games (17 starts) this year that he pitched at least six innings and allowed no more than two walks.
But Ryan found out after the game that, at least for now, he will not be a member of the American League All-Star team. Byron Buxton was the Twins’ only representative named on Sunday. The right-hander, who has been a candidate repeatedly but has not yet made an All-Star squad, was philosophical about the disappointment.
“It’s beyond me,” Ryan said. “I’ve got no control over that. It’s all it is. Just trying to win games.”
That’s not to say that Ryan couldn’t yet be added. Every year, some players elect not to participate between Selection Sunday and the game itself, and many of those players are pitchers. But for now, Ryan is on the outside looking in, as is reliever Jhoan Duran, whom the Twins also felt merited consideration.
It’s not for lack of performance. Following his Sunday start, Ryan is eighth among qualified AL pitchers in ERA (2.76), tied for second in WHIP (0.89), 11th in innings (104 1/3) and second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.52). Unfortunately for him, only nine starters made the squad, and three of them were their team’s only selection. So while Ryan certainly was a strong candidate and would be a deserving All-Star, it’s hard to say he was snubbed.
“I really haven’t dove into the stats too much,” Ryan said. “I see the stats on the board. I haven’t gone into it too deep. I don’t look at WAR or anything, or where I rank there, which is a pretty important stat. … I really don’t know. I think that’s a big one.
“I think innings are a big one. Strikeouts are pretty good. WHIP is probably good. ERA is like a fan stat, so if that’s good, too … I mean, I don’t know. I just try to pitch well. We’ve had really good defense all year that has put me in a good spot to be considered. But again, I wasn’t.”
Sunday’s game was an excellent example of both what Ryan has always done well and how he’s improved relative to earlier in his career. He came out firing, striking out the side in the first inning. He worked around trouble in the fourth before facing a perilous situation in the sixth.
Following what Ryan and the club felt should have been a called third strike, Junior Caminero singled. Soon after that, Ryan was called for a pitch-timer violation, giving him a 3-0 count vs. Jonathan Aranda with a man on and one out. Instead of letting the inning get away, as he might have done earlier in his career, Ryan got Aranda to fly out, then ended the inning with a grounder.
“That’s what top pitchers do,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “They get through stuff that maybe affects other guys or turns the game around for other guys. But they just find a way to just make good pitches and get through it. Joe has done an excellent job of just pitching in general. We can talk about his situational pitching, which is good because he’s good. He’s just good basically any time he has the ball in his hands.”