Minnesota Twins series preview: Can the Twins wrap up the AL Central in Detroit?
The Minnesota Twins will face the Detroit Tigers for the last time in 2019 this week, but their main goal is to get healthy and finish off the AL Central title.
Watching the Minnesota Twins over the past couple of weeks hasn’t been for the faint of heart, but over that timeframe, the Twins have done what they needed to do to conquer the American League Central and get ready for the postseason.
With a big series win over the Cleveland Indians from Sept. 13-16, the Twins came home and took care of business taking two out of three games from the Chicago White Sox and three of four games from the Kansas City Royals last week. While the results weren’t always pretty, the Twins still managed to get their magic number down to three and are on the doorstep of their first American League Central division championship since 2010.
Hence is the first objective with the Twins heading to Detroit for a three-game series beginning Tuesday night. The Twins can wrap up the division championship with a sweep over the lowly Tigers or do it as soon as Wednesday night with some help from the White Sox, who also begin a three-game series with the Indians on Tuesday.
Once the division is wrapped up, the Twins can focus on resting some of their key players in preparation for the American League Divisional Series, which begins on Oct. 4. That would mean over a full week of rest for the banged-up members of the Twins roster, which could do wonders for their plans for a lengthy postseason run.
With the Tigers likely making their plans for October golf months ago, this should be an easy series for the Twins, but they’ll still need to go out and execute.
About the Twins
The biggest storyline for the Twins coming into Detroit is the current status of their roster. Although the Twins have the luxury of fielding a 40-man roster over the next two series, that will not be available once the postseason begins with teams trimming back down to 25 players beginning with the ALDS.
With that decision looming, the Twins must find a way to get some of their key players some rest and also find out whether they’ll be healthy enough to contribute to a postseason run.
While Max Kepler will be ramping up his workload and likely won’t take the field until October, the Twins have several other players that are banged up including first baseman C.J. Cron, who is battling a thumb injury, and catcher Mitch Garver, who left Sunday’s game with the Royals with right hip tightness.
In addition to figuring out their health, the Twins must also decide what they want to do in a postseason rotation. As it stands now, only Jake Odorizzi (who will start on Tuesday) and Jose Berrios are locks for the rotation and even as the Twins entered their opener with the Tigers, the starting pitchers for the final two games had yet to be announced.
Either way, the Twins are running out of options. Kyle Gibson and Martin Perez were both ineffective against the Royals over the weekend and while Randy Dobnak could be an opener for a third game, Minnesota will likely need one more candidate to step up before heading to the postseason.
About the Tigers
During my childhood, one of the teams that I remember vividly was the 2003 Detroit Tigers. As they limped their way to a 43-119 record, they would eventually set the MLB record for most losses in a 162-game season and narrowly miss the 120-loss mark by defeating the Twins in their final game of the regular season.
While this version of the Tigers will not eclipse their predecessors in the loss column, the argument could be made that this season has been just as bad. Detroit enters Tuesday’s series with the worst record in baseball at 46-109 and have been brutal at home, tallying a 22-56 record in Motown this season.
The Tigers have also had issues that you would expect from one of the worst teams in baseball. They currently are last in MLB in runs per game (3.66) and their issues have stemmed from not being able to hit balls out of the park with just 145 home runs on the season (29th ahead of the Miami Marlins).
Even as the offense has struggled, the pitching staff hasn’t fared much better. Matthew Boyd leads the Tigers in WAR at 3.7, but the Twins won’t see him this season. Next on the list is Daniel Norris at 2.7, but he comes into Wednesday’s start with a 3-13 record and a 4.58 ERA. Tuesday’s starter Spencer Turnbull is next at 2.0, but he’s 0-10 with a 5.08 ERA at Comerica Park this year.
As Miguel Cabrera‘s massive contract continues to hang over this club, 2019 could be rock bottom in what looks to be a huge rebuild for the Tigers.
Why the Twins should win this series (and wrap up the divison)
The Twins come into this final series with the Tigers holding an 11-5 record. During those 16 games, Minnesota has been able to flex their muscles regularly, tagging the Detroit pitching staff for six or more runs 11 times. That number is staggering and although the Twins roll into Motown looking like a walking M*A*S*H unit, that figures to be more of the same this week.
The Tigers are brutally bad at home and the Twins have been able to take advantage of that as well, going 5-2 in their first two trips to Comerica Park this season. While the Twins can’t assert the same dominance that Cleveland showed going 18-1 against the Tigers, they can certainly impersonate that effort against the Tigers this week.
With Turnbull, Norris and Thursday’s starter Jordan Zimmerman (1-12, 6.85 ERA) all struggling, the Twins should be able to put up some runs, making all three games winnable despite whoever may pitch on Wednesday and Thursday night.
Next. Can the Twins get Max Kepler healthy for October?. dark
If the Twins can execute at the plate and get a solid start from Odorizzi in the opener, this should have a very good chance for a sweep and a celebration in the visitors’ clubhouse before wrapping up the season in Kansas City.