Twins and Guardians Preview

[MABB1959]

It’s May, think we will see Buxton in CF soon?   Can’t wait!!

[Sherry Cerny]

Can the Twins establish themselves as the team to beat in the AL Central?

Image courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski USA Today

For the first time this season, the Twins and the Guardians will face off in a match that can determine early bragging rights for the AL Central.. The Twins are out-pitching (3.42 ERA vs 3.99 ERA) and out-hitting (4.53 R/G vs 3.77 R/G) the Guardians, but that doesn't mean that the Guardians can't contend for that first-place spot. This series could potentially set the tone for the further match ups this season between the two clubs. 

Weather Factor:  The weather in Cleveland doesn’t look overly friendly, but the temperature will be in the high 50’s / low 60’s making it at least tolerable during the day, but chilly in the evenings. 

Pitching Probables
Game 1 – Friday, May 5th, 2023 – 6:10pm CDT –  To start the series, the Twins bring right-hander Bailey Ober (1-0, 1.59ERA) to the mound. Ober’s first outing, against the Nationals, resulted in his first win of the season before being optioned back down to St. Paul Triple-A. Just as quickly, he was brought back up when Kenta Maeda was sent back to the IL for a right triceps strain. In his second game against the Royals, Ober allowed only one run in his 5.2 innings pitched, but the Twins bullpen blew a late lead. Ober has shown excellent command throughout his career, but less so in his first two starts. As long as his walks are under control and the offense gives him support, Ober has the potential to provide a solid foundation for a win.

The Guardians will send 25-year-old rookie Peyton Battenfield (10-2, 4.67 ERA) to the hill. The same trade deadline in which the Rays traded Joe Ryan to the Twins, they traded Battenfield to Cleveland, but he hasn't had the early success that Ryan had. He spent last year in AAA (3.92 ERA, 153.2 IP, 109K) and he has filled into the rotation while Aaron Civale recovers from an oblique injury. In his three starts, he's lasted five innings only once, versus Detroit.

Game 2 – Saturday, May 6th, 2023 – 5:10 pm CDT -  Veteran and AL ERA leader Sonny Gray (4-0, 0.77ERA) will start game two for the Twins. Gray continues to dominate, closing out the month of April with a record against the Royals, being the first pitcher ever to go 9-0 in nine consecutive starts against them. He also tied Ervin Santana for the lowest opening-month ERA for Twins starting pitchers. Gray has been perfecting his pitching arsenal, carrying six pitches and specifically improving his cutter, making him exceptionally effective this season.

Rookie Logan Allen (1-1, 2.45ERA) is a left-handed pitcher drafted in 2020 by the Guardians in round two as the 56th pick overall and has moved quickly through the system, making his MLB debut this season with the Guardians. Allen's advantage in this match is that none of the Twins have seen him on the mound. He’s also posted impressive numbers so far with 16K and only three walks in 11 innings.. So far, against righties and lefties, Allen is evenly split, but expect the Twins to beef up their lineup with plenty of right-handed bats.

Game 3 - Sunday, May 7th, 2023 – 12:40pm CDT - Joe Ryan (5-0, 2.37ERA) returns to the mound after a scoreless six innings against the White Sox. Ryan's second month of the season is starting as well as the first. Ryan has excellent command with low walks (4.2%) and high strikes (30.1%), and his swinging strike rate is 15.5%, one of the best in the league. In each of Ryan’s first four games this season, he gave up a home run.

Cal Quantrill (1-2, 4.73ERA) faces off against the Twins lineup. Quantrill has a better record on the road (3.38 ERA, 1-0) than at home (8.64 ERA, 0-2), which is typical for the entire Guardians team. In his last start, Quantrill had a solid game against the Yankees (2 R over 7.1 IP) but did not factor into the decision. Quantrill has been inconsistent thus far this season, having two bad starts: at Seattle and at home versus Colorado. Quantrill struggles to strike out batters, with 17 strikeouts over 32.1 innings. If the Twins lineup can get to Quantrill early, they have the potential to control the game and give Ryan excellent run support. 

Prediction Time!
What's your prediction for this series? Can the Twins dominate and establish themselves as the team to beat in the AL Central?? Let's go, Twins Territory!

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[blindeke]

So weird that we have better starting pitching than Cleveland now.

[USAFChief]

To be clear, the games are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, not Thursday-Saturday. 

Also, Battenfield is 0-2, not 10-2.

 

Let's get the sweep.

[Richard Swerdlick]

Also the times of the games are wrong. The author says CDT, but used EDT times. The games start one hour earlier than posted here.

 

[MABB1959]

Centerfield probable's:  Byron Buxton?

[Nine of twelve]

43 minutes ago, MABB1959 said:

Centerfield probable's:  Byron Buxton?

I would not use the word probable.

[Nine of twelve]

12 hours ago, USAFChief said:

To be clear, the games are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, not Thursday-Saturday. 

 

6 hours ago, Richard Swerdlick said:

Also the times of the games are wrong. The author says CDT, but used EDT times. The games start one hour earlier than posted here.

These errors appear to have been corrected. The information in the article is now accurate.

[Blyleven2011]

I got suckered in that we could or should of swept Chicago  when they are down , but they prevailed and almost swept us ...

I'm predicting nothing , it's game to game ( Friday through Sunday  )  ...

We have had good pitching but the hitting  has just not shown up ....

Anybody missing arreaz  yet ??? 

[2wins87]

Despite the records, I think the White Sox actually look like a better team than this Cleveland team.

It seems it's been the familiar stars and scrubs again for the Guardians.  It could just be cold starts for some of their breakouts from last year, but it could be regression as well.  They certainly had plenty of regression candidates.  I think Gimenez and Oscar Gonzlez will be better, but some of their other top contributing position players from last year are more questionable to me.

I think Kwan is basically just the singles hitter that he's been this year.  I think Naylor's breakout easily could have been a fluke.  I don't really expect Ahmed Rosario to be much better.

Beyond Bieber and the top of the bullpen, the pitching looks competent but not special.

It's a talented organization so there are still guys that could step forward, and the pitching could get more healthy.  But one month into the season they certainly don't look like the team to beat in the central anymore.

I'm hoping they take 2 of 3 in Cleveland.  But missing Bieber, so they should have a pretty good shot of putting up runs in every game.  At least we can hope.