Series Preview: Nationals Come to Town

[Steven Trefz]

The Twins limp home (literally) from a disappointing trip to Fenway Park, but hope to rejuvenate their series-winning ways against a hapless Washington Nationals squad. Will the real Twins version please stand up?

Image courtesy of © Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

 

On Friday night, the Twins begin a ten-game home stand with three against the Washington Nationals. While the Nationals come into Target Field 5-13 after getting shutout by the Baltimore Orioles at home in a two-game series, the Twins come home from an exhausting and average trip through Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park still leading the AL Central at 11-8. What can we expect from this series? 

Fun Fact: The Twins last played the newest rendition of the club that formed them at Target Field in September of 2019, dropping two out of three to the eventual World Series Champions.

Weather Factor: Cold. Very Cold. Highs will be in the low 40’s to high 30’s all weekend.

Pitching Probables
Game 1 - Friday, April 21st - 7:10pm CDT - The first game in the series will feature Twins RHP Tyler Mahle (1-2, 3.52 ERA) versus Nationals RHP Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.52 ERA).

Twins fans shouldn’t expect any drastic changes to the lineup for Game 1, unless Jorge Polanco were to make his 2023 MLB debut. (Update pregame Friday…Polanco IS up and batting 5th!). Neither team has a significant track record with any of three probable pitchers in this series, so the status quo figures to keep on playing out.

The Twins have also announced an autograph signing near Gate 34 from 5:45-6:15pm Friday to celebrate the fact that Pablo Day is here to stay!

Game 2 – Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 – 1:10pm CDT - Newly extended Twins RHP Pablo Lopez (1-1, 1.73 ERA) takes the mound opposite Nationals RHP Chad Kuhn (0-1, 8.59) who is looking for his first win of the season. 

The intrigue here involves Lopez’s response to the new deal, after being bested by Garrit Cole on the road. Will Pablo be able to match his Target Field debut with another strong showing in cold weather?

Game 3 - Sunday, April 23rd - 1:10pm CDT - The Twins have not announced a pitcher for Game 3 against the Nationals, but they do know that they will be facing a lefty in the Nationals Patrick Corbin (1-2, 6.30 ERA). 

With the Twins’ weak showing against left-handed starters so far this season, this looks to be another case of “they struggled until they faced us” matchup. Who the Twins send out will determine upon Kenta Maeda’s prognosis and the fact that the Twins have seven more games in a row until their next off-day. Do we see the return of Louie Varland? Or will Bailey Ober (who pitched on Tuesday, five days before this, hint, hint) make the drive across the Mississippi to enter the Twins rotation?

Prediction Time!
What’s your prediction for this chilly series with the Nationals? Can the Twins offense find some consistency off of the Nationals pitching? How will the Twins respond to the uncertainty in our rotation and bullpen after the Red Sox series? A sweep is there for the taking…right? Let's go, Twins Territory!

 

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[ashbury]

A sweep, barring injuries.

[DJL44]

This could be the worst attended weekend series of the season. Weather looks awful.

[2wins87]

I think if Maeda is going to make an IL stint, a roster move and Ober start on Sunday makes tons of sense.  Ober would be on his normal schedule but it would give Gray and Ryan an extra day of rest before taking on the Yankees.  They would go Gray, Ryan, and Mahle against the Yankees probably going Brito, Cortes, German.  Maeda's IL stint would be back-dated to today, and Ober would get two turns in the MLB rotation.

Not sure a very bad bruise will necessarily require an IL stint, but I would prefer the above scenario to Ryan, Maeda, and Mahle against the Yankees.  Maeda will have to agree that he's not 100% though, so it's probably not really up to the team if they want to try to game it like that.

Varland also hasn't made a minor league appearance since his spot start against the Yankees and Woods-Richardson has currently been scheduled today despite being on one less day of rest, so maybe they are considering bringing up Varland again.  I can't see how they wouldn't bring up Ober if they need to cover two starts though, if only to give him a couple looks against MLB lineups and keep him from being passed over yet again.

[stringer bell]

Ober has had two straight excellent starts for the Saints and has a bigger and better resume than Varland. In addition, if it is only for a start or two, I don't think the Twins want to use up another option move on Varland. I could be wrong, of course.

I also wonder if Jorge Polanco might be activated or if the weather might slow the process down. It's going to be cold in both St..Paul and Minneapolis for the duration of the weekend.

 

[stringer bell]

I'm guessing there will be plenty of good seats available for the Nationals series, given the opponent and the weather forecast.

[wabene]

55 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Ober has had two straight excellent starts for the Saints and has a bigger and better resume than Varland. In addition, if it is only for a start or two, I don't think the Twins want to use up another option move on Varland. I could be wrong, of course.

I also wonder if Jorge Polanco might be activated or if the weather might slow the process down. It's going to be cold in both St..Paul and Minneapolis for the duration of the weekend.

 

They left Polanco out in the rain and slop in his last Saints game so maybe the weather won't be a factor.

[ashbury]

58 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I'm guessing there will be plenty of good seats available for the Nationals series, given the opponent and the weather forecast.

Given the weather, are there actually ANY good seats except the luxury boxes?

[ziggy]

15 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Given the weather, are there actually ANY good seats except the luxury boxes?

Yes, under the second deck overhang, it's also less steps to walk down from the vendors also.

[MMMordabito]

The game tonight will be my first of the season at Target Field.  Thanks, Mother Nature.

At least I have Delta 360 seats, so I won't have to brave anything, if I don't want to.

[USAFChief]

FYI, as reported by our intrepid Vanimal, Polanco and SWR up, Julien and Alcala to St Paul. I'd imagine Polanco in the lineup tonight.

[minman1982]

6 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

FYI, as reported by our intrepid Vanimal, Polanco and SWR up, Julien and Alcala to St Paul. I'd imagine Polanco in the lineup tonight.

I agree. Polanco will play tonight. Looks like SWR on Sunday then.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I would think with SWR struggling in St. Paul, that he is only here to provide long relief if Mahle gets in trouble, or eat a couple innings at the end if it's not close. Then send him back and call up Varland or Ober for Sunday's start. So glad to have Polanco back. 

[Steven Trefz]

1 hour ago, minman1982 said:

I agree. Polanco will play tonight. Looks like SWR on Sunday then.

Polanco batting 5th!  Hope it goes well!

My bet is Varland for Sunday, he looked good in NY, after settling in.

[wabene]

They finally don't want to get caught without a long option like yesterday. That's SWR. Ober Sunday. Gotta win these games, that would be the only reason Varland gets it, if they think he's ahead of Ober.