Twins RHP Pablo Lopez expected to miss 8-12 weeks with shoulder injury

Minnesota Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez is expected to miss 8 to 12 weeks with an injury to his throwing shoulder, the team announced on Wednesday. Lopez was diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of the teres major muscle.

Lopez, the Twins' Opening Day starter, exited Tuesday night's 10-3 win against the Athletics after five innings due to discomfort in his shoulder. He felt pain in the shoulder with two outs in the fifth but stayed in the game. After a few warmup pitches before the sixth inning, Lopez signaled to the dugout to remove him.

"It sucks," Lopez said on Tuesday. "I don't like it. I hate missing out on a start. I hate getting taken out. I hate the idea of thinking it could be something bad. But we can't control things like this."

David Festa was called up from Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday and is expected to join the Twins rotation and start Thursday's series finale in Sacramento.

This will be the second IL stint for Lopez this season. He missed two starts in April due to a strained right hamstring. This time, Lopez will be shut down from throwing entirely for at least four weeks before being reevaluated.

Lopez has enjoyed another solid season on the mound for the Twins, going 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA over 11 starts. He has 61 strikeouts and 14 walks over 60 2/3 innings.

--Field Level Media