Minnesota Twins probable pitchers and starting lineup vs. Astros (April 9, 2023)
By Josh Hill
Today it’s been a hot start to the Minnesota Twins season is to undersell just how outrageously great things have been.
Minnesota starting the year by sweeping the Kansas City Royals before watching its offense detonate for 11-runs against the Miami Marlins. The Twins ran into a couple of pitching buzzsaws to end its series in Miami, dropping its first two games of the season.
But talk about a bounce back in a huge series against Houston.
An extra innings walk-off win in the home opener on Friday was followed by the Minnesota offense waking up once again to help propel the team to a 9-6 victory on Saturday. Now the Twins are on the brink of sweeping the Astros to win its second series of the season and improve to 7-2.
It’s early, but the things Minnesota needed to have come together is mostly doing exactly that and the result is one of the best starts in franchise history.
Minnesota Twins starting lineup today vs. Houston Astros (April 9, 2023)
Things once again look notably different for the Twins. Carlos Correa is getting his first day off of the season after having played in every game so far this season. He’s not off to the best start, batting just .182 and slugging a meager .242 in 36 plate apperances.
Thankfully the rest of the lineup has been stepping up during his slump, and his bat hasn’t been needed for the Twins to have pulled off an extra innings win on Friday or beat the Astros into submission on Saturday.
It’s a troubling trend, though, and one that a day off hopefully helps correct.
A new name is making an appearance in the lineup, as Matt Wallner is getting his first start of the season out in right field. Wallner was called up on Saturday after Minnesota placed Max Kepler on the IL. The Twins are also without Joey Gallo, who has been listed as day-to-day after leaving Friday’s home opener with right side soreness.
Waller is the first call up of the season, coming over from St. Paul and arriving as one of the Twins top prospects in the farm system.
Here’s what the lineup will be as the Twins go for the series sweep against Houston:
Batting Order | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|
1 | Byron Buxton | DH |
2 | Trevor Larnach | LF |
3 | Jose Miranda | 3B |
4 | Donovan Solano | 1B |
5 | Nick Gordon | 2B |
6 | Kyle Farmer | SS |
7 | Matt Wallner | RF |
8 | Ryan Jeffers | C |
9 | Michael A. Taylor | CF |
Starting Pitcher | Tyler Mahle | (1-0, 1.80 ERA) |
Ryan Jeffers is also in the lineup today, giving Christian Vazquez a break. Kyle Farmer is getting the start at shortstop for Correa, and is looking to bookended his impressive series against the Astros with another big game.
How to watch Minnesota Twins today: Twins vs Astros live stream, start time, TV channel, and radio (April 9, 2023)
Here’s how to catch the series finale against the Houston Astros today:
- Date: Sunday, April 9th
- Time: 1:10 p.m. CT
- TV Channel: Bally Sports North
- Live Stream: fuboTV (Try for free) | MLB.tv
- Radio: WCCO 830AM