“His stuff keeps getting better. He’s throwing strikes. The delivery looks the way it should. It all checked out,” Baldelli said of Ryan’s camp performance. “Everything has gone really smoothly. I was prepared for him to pitch this year and be ready for his first start.”
One thing that could get in the way of Ryan’s return: the weather. Rain is in the forecast Saturday morning and again Sunday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. but, as with Thursday’s opener, could be delayed if showers linger.
The frustrating part: The weather in St. Louis was sunny and warm Wednesday, when the Twins held a workout in Busch Stadium, and again Friday, the off day scheduled in case Opening Day, with its sellout crowd, was rained out. The rains seemingly only arrive on days when games are scheduled.
One unusual aspect of Pablo López’s loss Thursday was that in two different innings, Cardinals baserunners took off for second base before López had begun his windup. Both Lars Nootbaar in the first inning and Jordan Walker in the second appeared to be easy outs for López — but he couldn’t convert either one.
Second base umpire Mike Estabrook ruled that López illegally flinched in the set position when the Twins yelled that Nootbaar was running, and the Cardinals leadoff hitter was awarded second base on a balk.
In the next inning, López reacted properly, but his throw to second base was wild and flew into center field. Walker was actually charged with a caught stealing, having reached on the error.
