Minnesota right-hander Pablo Lopez cut his live batting practice session on Monday short due to “a little bit of elbow soreness,” according to Twins manager Derek Shelton.
Preparing to pitch for Venezuela in next month’s World Baseball Classic, Lopez threw two-plus innings against live hitters at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla., the Twins’ spring training home.
In his third simulated inning, Lopez — who turns 30 on March 7 — felt soreness after his second pitch and stopped the session. Entering his ninth season and fourth with the Twins, Lopez will undergo imaging to determine the severity of the issue.
“I mean, obviously, it’s February 16, and I think he and (pitching coach Pete Maki) had a little bit of a conversation on the second pitch he threw during the third up and felt some soreness,” Shelton told reporters. “And after he and Pete talked, we decided, out of an abundance of caution, let’s get him off, let’s get him off the field and make sure he’s OK. So, you know, we will have more information. We’ll get some imaging on it, just because of how important it is and he is to us.”
Lopez made 32 starts per season from 2022-24 but endured three separate stints on the injured list in 2025, when he went 5-4 in 14 starts with a 2.74 ERA over 75 2/3 innings. A hamstring injury, a muscle injury in the back of his throwing shoulder and a forearm strain landed him on the IL.
“I don’t know if anybody in that room takes care of himself as well as Pablo does, not only during the season, but in the offseason,” Shelton said of Lopez, who has started the last three season openers for Minnesota. “And the fact that he has awareness of his body, and he and Pete have a strong relationship, and we’re able to have a conversation. It was like, OK, let’s hold off and take a look here and kind of move on from that.”
In eight seasons with the Miami Marlins and Twins, Lopez is 59-53 with a 3.81 ERA in 172 games (all starts), with 994 strikeouts and 251 walks over 965 innings. He is entering the third season of a four-year, $73.5 million deal he signed in 2023.
