ST. LOUIS — Some point to Aug. 17 as the day the Twins’ season started to fall apart last year.

The Twins, after beating the Texas Rangers in the first three games of the series, were up 4-0 in the seventh inning when Jorge Alcala entered the game and was rocked for five runs in just a matter of minutes. From then on, the Twins went 12-27 to finish their season, missing the playoffs.

But, in truth, things had started to unravel even before then. Ten days earlier, Joe Ryan threw what would be the last pitch of his season, leaving his Aug. 7 start at Wrigley Field early with what turned out to be a teres major strain.

That shoulder meant the Twins spent the rest of the season trotting out three rookies in the rotation. Now healthy, Ryan, who will make his first start of the season on Saturday versus the St. Louis Cardinals, very well could be one of the keys to the Twins’ season.

“It’s always difficult,” Ryan said of watching from afar last year. “Obviously, you want to play, and you have expectations, and to have something just come out of nowhere, especially just that week, I was feeling really good. I think (it was) just kind of a slap in the face.”

But Ryan was feeling better as the offseason began and got clean imaging in November. Watching Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch in the postseason after suffering a similar injury, and talking to other pitchers who had gone through the same, helped build his confidence that he, too, could return just as effective as ever.

And Ryan, at his top form, could be a Cy Young Award contender if he puts together a season in which he can maintain his health throughout. At the time of his injury last year, Ryan was in the midst of perhaps the best year of his career. He had a 3.60 earned-run average, a 0.985 WHIP (Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched) and was striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings.

After offseasons of tinkering with new pitches, Ryan was able to come to come to spring training this year confident in his pitch mix.

“I’m happy with all my pitches,” he said. “I think coming into camp this year not having to see how things work, knowing the splitter works, knowing the sweeper works, knowing the sinker works, four-seam, cutter, they all play. And it was just being able to pitch with those and then work on some other things.”

That confidence extended to his health, as well.

This spring, Ryan felt strong. He wasn’t rehabbing, though he spent the end of last season on the injured list — he was just building up for the season like the rest of the rotation.

“His stuff keeps getting better. He’s throwing strikes. The delivery looks the way it should,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It all checked out. He had that little blip a few days early in camp when he was down, but overall, before that and even after that, everything has gone really smoothly.”

And for Ryan and the Twins, it’s been a long time coming.

“Something about getting games back changes the mindset a little bit and just turns everything up a little bit more,” Ryan said. “You remember why you’re here and what you’re doing.

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