Michael Pineda
vs
Joe Ryan
Big Mike comes to town as a Tiger now. His first start was last week against the Yankees and went well. Any wins against the Yankees are good wins.
Meanwhile this is Joe Ryan's fourth start and he's been getting better for each one. He hasn't pitched in the seventh yet so I'm hoping his pitch count is now high enough to get more than 18 outs.
So the heat generated by the Twins taking the Jaspers to the White Sox nor the smoking hot men's sports weekend wasn't enough to warm Minnesota's temperatures so we will have another chilly night at Target Field for the Tigers. I'd like to hit a game soon but could at least like something in the 60s.
Tigers in town for the first time this year with Miguel Cabrera in the 3000 hit, 500 homer club. The Tigers should start to be a little better this year although their 6-9 start isn't so nice.
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (0-1, 5.27) for the Tigers and RHP Chris Paddack (0-2, 5.00) for the Twins. The Twins have scored exactly zero runs in games that Paddack has pitched in so hopefully that changes tonight.
First Pitch at 6:40. Bring a warm coat if you go to the game.
Twins Lineup
DH - Buxton
SS - Correa
2B - Polanco
LF - Garlick
3B - Urshela
RF - Kepler
1B - Sano
C - Jeffers
CF - Celestino
Chris Archer on the mound as the Twins go for 4 straight wins and a .500 record. It's pretty easy to feel invincible with Byron Buxton at the top of the lineup, so I say they do it.
White Sox are trying to avoid losing 7 straight and may or may not have Lucas Giolito pitching (I can't find an official announcement of the starter as I'm writing this).
Hits are hard to come by these days.
How bad are offenses across the league? Gary Sanchez, Gio Urshela and Trevor Larnach have been league average hitters so far, and two of them have OBPs that start with a 2.
Finally, an opponent in our same division! Royals? Nope, never heard of them. Definitely didn't score only 4 runs over 3 games. Nope, our high-powered offense wouldn't slump that badly. Didn't happen.
Anyway, assuming no weather issues, Ober pitches against Kopech tonight, and the Twins are going to score lots of runs, which is a thing they regularly do.
Today's cuppa rightfully calls out the ass-battery the local nine have been displaying pretty much since the season opener. We've seen a few flashes of high-octane offense here and there, but that certainly has not been the trend. Miguel Sano is batting for a paltry .091 average, and I'm tired of waiting for him to turn into the David Ortiz we didn't throw away. Today's starting lineup features four players batting below .200, and only one batting above .300, and he doesn't have quite enough at-bats to qualify for the leader boards. So yeah, it's been cold here all spring and the bats are still in hibernation, but they will wake up one of these days. I'm hoping the return of Buxton to the lineup (DH today) will provide a much-needed offensive spark.
On the mound, young Joe Ryan will take the ball for his third start this year. He's got a split win-loss record with one apiece, sports a 2.70 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and has 11 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. Not bad for a rookie. I can recall many seasons past when we collectively bemoaned the team's reluctance to rely on young starting pitchers, but this is a different FO and manager. If the Twins are to go anywhere this year, it will be on the arms of a rotation that averages just 28 years old. Here's a tip for the rookie today from an old observer of the game who turned a year older today -- don't throw a single pitch to Salvador Perez, just point to first base. Every. Fucking. Time.
At the other end of the career spectrum today, KC sends to the mound an old, familiar nemesis in Zack Greinke, who at the ripe age of 38 is pitching in his 19th major league season this year. I simply have to tip my cap and applaud a guy who has spent half his life as a major league pitcher. Zack has had no decisions in his first two starts of this campaign but brings an impressive 2.45 ERA and 1.09 WHIP to the hill with him. He's recorded just one K in 11 innings and strikeouts aren't as much of his game as they used to be, but his VSI (veteran savvy index) is off the damn charts.
Play ball!
Chris Paddack
vs
Daniel Lynch
Chris Paddack did not have a good debut with the Twins. Fortunately for the Twins, Daniel Lynch had an even worse debut this season. He had a negative WAR last year, his rookie year. He was equally bad in AAA last year but good back in 2019. He's home prone, gave up three in his first start, so that plays right into this lineup's sole strength.
Ten games down in the 2022 season so we can play a little bit of "having fun with SSS." After 10 games...
Projected record: 65-97
Average margin of Twins win: 4.75
Average margin of Twins loss: 4.16
Projected Byron Buxton games missed: 48 games
Nick Gordon will finish with a higher OPS than Miguel Sano
Projected Miguel hits: 32, 16 of them HRs.
Whew, let's hope in 20 games, some of these trends get turned around.
Chris Archer vs. Carlos Hernandez.
First Pitch at 7:10, just 20 minutes before the Wolves-Griz tilt.
Twins Lineup
1B Luis Arraez, L
2B Jorge Polanco, S
SS Carlos Correa, R
RF Max Kepler, L
CF Nick Gordon, L
3B Gio Urshela, R
LF Trevor Larnach, L
DH Gary Sánchez, R
C Ryan Jeffers
Rise and shine! We've got early morning baseball. It must be especially odd for our friends on the west coast...
Old friend Dick Mountain is on the mound of the Sox. His first start against the Tigers wasn't great, so hopefully he won't start putting it together until after this game. On the flip side, let's hope Bundy keeps truckin' ahead today as well.
It's too early for assbats, damn it! Let's gooooo!
Happy "Byron Buxton is not seriously injured" day to all who observe.
A simple sigh of relief is customary on this most holy of baseball days, but some other local observances vary.
Karl Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards intend to drop unholy amounts to buckets on the unsuspecting Memphis Grizzlies. Sonny Gray, meanwhile, has opted to strike out Red Sox by the dozen. I simply intend to drink a beer and soak in the celebratory atmosphere of Byron Buxton finally getting good news about an injury for once.
What's in everyone's glass on this fine Saturday afternoon? By all means, drop a note about any other sports-related happenings you happen to be taking in.
