Minnesota Twins starting lineup today, probable pitcher vs. Royals (March 31)

Despite an objectively awful first few days of the season, the Minnesota Twins are going for opening series sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Minnesota has looked good, which has gone a long way in soothing the pain of losing Royce Lewis to a right quad injury. That's been the cloud hanging over the hot start the Twins have gotten off to, as the team will be without one of its best players for at least a month, if not more.

On Saturday the Twins ripped the bandaid off, announcing that Lewis had suffered a 'severe' quad strain while rounding second base after his second at-bat on Opening Day. Lewis came up limping at third and was soon taken out of the game, and that might be the last we see of him until the All-Star Break.

It's looking like a minimum of a month before Lewis will be evaluated again and the Twins will make a decision on how to move forward. In the meantime, the injury to Lewis opened the lane for Austin Martin to get called up and make his MLB debut.

That's going to happen on Sunday, as Martin is in the lineup and will end Minnesota's first series of the season by making his first ever major league appearance.

Minnesota Twins starting lineup today vs. Kansas City Royals (March 31, 2024)

Austin Martin debuting is the big thing to watch for on Sunday, but so is the fact that the Twins can get out of Kansas City with a series sweep.

Minnesota had similar success last season, sweeping the Royals and winning the first game of a series in Miami beofre losing its first game. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but the Twins will be in Milwaukee next week for two games against the Brewers which creates a scenario where Minnesota could return to Target Field and play its home opener undefeated.

To get there, the Twins will need a win on Sunday to keep the streak alive. Here's the lineup Rocco Baldelli thinks will be able to pull it off:

This is the sort of lineup we all envisioned during Spring Training as far as how things could go if Martin were to make the initial roster. Byron Buxton is playing his third straight game, but is moving to DH while Martin replaces him in center. Manuel Margot is getting the day off while Matt Wallner and Alex Kirilloff man the corners of the outfield.

Meanwhile, Willi Castro is making his second start at third base in place of Lewis while we get Carlos Santana and Edouard Julien on the other side of the infield. The combo of Julien -- who is leading off -- and Santana in the lineup is some pretty decent power to have going up against Brady Singer.

Of course, all eyes will be on Martin when he comes to bat and finally makes his debut. It's been at least three years in the making on Minnesota's side and even longer for Martin, but we're finally going to see what one of the top prospects in the organization can do.

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