Opening day of the 2023 MLB playoffs and your Minnesota Twins in the thick of the festivities.
This thread will be for all four games, including the Twins v. Blue Jays.
Lopez v. Gausman and while Gausman has put up gaudy numbers this year, the Twins have had his number. Hopefully no regression to the mean. Pablo Lopez seems to be dialed in and I like his bulldog approach. Also the Twins look to have a bunch of relievers who can hit the upper 90's on their fastball. It seems that in the past few years, that's been a big component of teams that have gone far in the playoffs.
I'm writing this in the morning before the roster has been named. I may come back with comments. I may not!
Other games today:
Texas at Tampa - 2:00
Toronto at MN - 3:30
Arizona at Milwaukee - 6:00
Miami at Philadelphia - 7:00
Twins clinched the Central Division and with a 1 percent chance to get the second seed so right now these last 6 games are to get healthy, stay healthy, do a little tinkering with the line-up, throw some starters like Paddock and Maeta into bullpen situations and see how they respond, etc. Basically get this team ready for the playoffs.
Bailey Ober back up for the Twins and while I don't think he makes the playoff roster for Wild Card series, he's had a decent season for the Twins and I'm guessing we'll probably see him pitch the last game of the season before he's shut down. I look forward to see his progression next year. Paul Blackburn for the A's. Not sure if he's related to Nick Blackburn or Senator Marsha Blackburn but a cursory look says no.
Game time 6:40. May be a little wet but looks like rain will hold off.
With a Magic number of 5 over the Guardians and 4 over the Tigers, Twins somewhat playing out the string of the season over these last dozen games or so. Bullpen match ups being tested, multi-positional players getting time at first base, etc. The Reds however are in a dogfight with four teams within a half a game of two remaining Wild Card spots so every game counts for them.
Kenta Maeda up for the Twins and had a very nice start last week. Would be nice to see that through the end of the season and maybe he gets the 3rd start over Joe Ryan if it gets that far in the Wildcard series. Fernando Cruz up for the Reds. He's typically a reliever so not sure if Reds are doing a bullpen game.
Game time at 5:40. Cleveland plays at 6:40 and Tigers after 9:00.
Twins slow march to the Central Division title continues with a second game against the really good Tampa Bay Rays. Twins once again at 6 games over .500 after reaching a season high 8 games over on Saturday. Joe Ryan on the mound for the Twins. Former Twin Zach Little pitching for the Rays. My sources list Zach Little as a reliever so not sure if this is a bullpen game for the Rays. However, he did pitch 8 pretty solid innings last week so perhaps Little is being stretched out to be a starter.
Twins Magic Number now 11 for both Guardians and Tigers.
After yesterday's shellacking of the Guardians, the Twins are once again at the dreaded 6 games over .500 level. We've seen losing streaks of 4, 2, and 1 games after reaching these lofty heights -- as if the Twins are afraid of flying too close to the sun. Will they have more runs in them after scoring 3 touchdowns yesterday? Will the Guardians feel like they need to respond?
Sonny Gray on the mound for the Twins and I feel like he's in bulldog mode. Someone named Tanner Bibee for the Guardians. Never heard of the guy but apparently he's one of Cleveland's best pitchers. His strikeout per inning rate is a concern for the free swinging Twins so I don't think we will see double digit runs scored tonight.
It feels like if the Twins can win one more game against Cleveland, that will be the dagger for the season. Let's just get it done tonight and not have to worry about the Guardians thinking they have any chance of catching the Twins.
Twins back up to six games over .500. Seems like every time they have met that milestone this season the Twins go into a minor tailspin. Fortunately it appears that the Guardians are at the "put an X on each day of the calendar stage" of the season and are just looking forward to the time when they don't have to spend their days in Cleveland.
Pablo Lopez on the mound for the Twins and he has been the ace of the staff over the latter half of the summer and probably gets the game one start in the playoffs. Someone called Gavin Williams for the Guardians and he's coming off a 7 runs in 4.1 innings outing last week. Here's hoping he loads the bases for Royce Lewis.
Game time at 6:40 for a very nice night to be at the ballpark. Magic number is 24 (22 for Detroit) so we could be celebrating a Central Division champions belt in the next couple of weeks.
The second two-game, mid-week series of the season against the Brewers starts today in Milwaukee in what used to be called Miller Park. Although the temps seem to be moderate, Milwaukee is still under a heat warning (humidity?) so I am sure the roof will be closed.
Bailey Ober up for the Twins. I really like the season he is having, especially his 1k per inning stat and the fact that he throws one walk for every five strikeouts. I doubt he will start a playoff game, but could see him in a high leverage relief effort there. (I know I'm getting ahead of myself). Wade Miley on for the Brewers and he's not a high strikeout pitcher but I am sure the Twins will help him there.
Brewers having a nice little season this year with a lead in the NL Central. Should be a fun two games.
Tigers in town for a quick two game series after pummeling the Twins last week in 3 out of 4 games. Twins feeling a bit better about themselves after a decent showing against a good Phillies team so hopefully the good vibes continue. Also Royce Lewis back up after his injury. I really want him to continue to mash like he did before the injury.
Bailey Ober on the mound for the Twins and Alex Faedo for the Tigers. Probably the Twins inability to do much against Faedo last week was one of the biggest disappointments of that Motown visit. I'm thinking the ass bats were left in Detroit and ol' Alex Faedo will get a rude welcome here in Minneapolis
Game time at 6:40 and looks like an absolute gorgeous night for baseball.
Wow, what a difference a week makes. Last Tuesday at this time we were all grumpy about the Twins, their lack of movement at the trade deadline, uninspired baseball, and inability to take advantage of an historically bad division. Now the Twins are riding high off a 5-game winning streak, the bats are responding and all of a sudden the Twins are sitting on a 5.5 game lead. Also they now have a better record than both the Yankees and Red Sox.
Sonny Gray on the mound for the Twins coming off his first win since April. Eduardo Rodriguez for the Tigers. He is arguably their best starter and has put up decent stats. I'm a little worried the still strikeout prone Twins batters may add to his healthy K/9 totals.
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