Minnesota Twins: Santiago and Pelfrey Set to Face Former Teams
By Jordan Ison
The Minnesota Twins are set to begin their series against the White Sox today and the clubs are going to be facing some familiar foes on the hill.
The Minnesota Twins will begin another 3-game series against the Chicago White Sox today in Chicago. Being division opponents, these are two very familiar teams. Even more so, the two squads will be very familiar with the pitchers on the hill to start the game.
The pitching match-up includes Hector Santiago of the Twins and Mike Pelfrey of the White Sox. This is the interesting part of this match-up: Santiago used to play for the White Sox and Pelfrey used to play for the Twins.
As Twins’ fans probably remember, Mike Pelfrey was a starting pitcher for Minnesota from 2013 – 2015. In his stint with the Twins, Pelfrey went 11-27 with a 5.81 ERA, not exactly the best numbers.
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What fans may not remember is that Hector Santiago used to pitch for the Chicago White Sox. From 2011 – 2013, Santiago was an on/off starter for the Sox. During those years, he went 8-10 with a 3.45 ERA, much better numbers than Pelfrey.
While the advantage may seem to go to the offenses, as they’ve been around these pitchers often, that may not be the case. The line-ups for both squads have changed a lot since Pelfrey was a Twin and Santiago was a White Sox.
The pitchers, on the other hand, have the advantage of knowing the hitters a little better. Knowing the opponent’s offensive schemes could give them the upper hand.
Either way, it should be a great battle for game one of this 3-game series. Hector Santiago, so far this season, is 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA. On the contrary, Mike Pelfrey hasn’t had such a good year, as he is 0-2 with a 5.02 ERA.
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On paper, the Minnesota Twins look like the favorite in this game one match-up. They have the better pitcher and the bats have been great lately. Now they just have to put together a nice, 9-inning performance.