Things are going well! Playoff spot has been clinched with plenty of season left, now it's time to get everyone in line for the postseason and ....
Hang on. I've got the wrong Minnesota team here.
(shuffles notes)
Ah! Here we are.
Everything is terrible! They'll never make the playoffs and there's not nearly enough season left for them to turn it around and play better.
Matt Shoemaker v. Wil Crowe
Winning this series against the Pirates would be a good place to start. To do that the Twins look to Matt Shoemaker, who has been bit by the home run early in this season. Every run he has allowed so far has come from a home run, including a 3-run homer off Alcala that scored the two runners that were bequeathed by Shoemaker in his last start in Oakland.
5 home runs in 14.1 IP isn't really a recipe for success, but he's only allowed one other extra base hit. So keeping the Pirates in the yard will maybe be an indicator of how this start goes.
Wil Crowe goes for Pittsburgh. This will be the 5th appearance in his career (4th start). He's pitched 9 innings in the majors and allowed 5 home runs and walked 10 hitters. In his lone appearance this year, he faced 5 batters. Two strikeouts, a single, two walks and two wild pitches.
Fangraphs says the following about Crowe:
[Crowe] works with below-average velo, he’s a below-average athlete, he’s had health issues ... and has now struggled during his first big league trial, at age 25/26. I wonder if his fastball will gain a few tick in relief, and I think it needs to based on how loose his location of it was in 2020.
Hopefully, the Twins can feast on Crowe. And if they don't I guess I'll be ... eating ... crow?
(That was bad. I feel bad about that)
