Minnesota Twins won’t name Game 1 starter “until the very last minute”

The Minnesota Twins know who will be starting Game 1 of the ALDS on Friday, but they won’t reveal it until “the very last minute.”

The pieces are slowly starting to come together when it comes to the Minnesota Twins’ plans for the American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees. After MLB announced that Game 1 would take place at 6:07 p.m. on Friday night, the next question that many want to know is who the Twins will send to the mound to try and take an early advantage.

When meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Baldelli said he knows who will be getting the ball in the Bronx on Friday night, but won’t announce it until “the very last minute.”

"“We have a pretty good idea of who will be getting the ball in Game 1,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to wait until the very last minute to talk about what any of our players are doing. In addition to the pitching, we do have several guys coming back from injury. All of those guys affect the roster in a different way and could affect what we’re going to do with those final spots.”"

As you can see, Baldelli went a completely different direction when asked about who will start the opener at Yankee Stadium, but there are only a couple of candidates who could actually take the mound based on the past couple of weeks.

Jake Odorizzi, Jose Berrios, and Randy Dobnak could all be in the mix to start Game 1 and the Twins could also take a page out of the Milwaukee Brewers’ book from last postseason, opting for a bullpen game that leaves their options open for the remainder of the series.

In any event, the Game 1 starter’s identity should be revealed as we get closer to game time on Friday and with the weight of a 13-game postseason losing streak on the Twins franchise, whoever gets the ball will have a tall task shutting down the Yankees lineup.