Twins v. Angels Preview: Twins Continue Their West Coast Campaign

[Sherry Cerny]

After a much needed day off, the Twins continue their California campaign in Anaheim and see former teammate Gio Urshela for the first time since his trade.

Image courtesy of Michael McLoone USA TODAY

The Twin's offense heads south to Anaheim and will face a couple of lefties, whose presence could neutralize three of the Twins’ left-handed power hitters: Joey Gallo who has been on a tear since the series against the Cubs, Trevor Larnach, and Alex Kirilloff, who has made himself very comfortable in the line-up with his first career walk-off win and two home runs. With the potential of Jorge Polanco out with a hamstring injury and Nick Gordon out with a fractured shin, the lineup is going to have to dig deep and generate runs.

Interesting Fact: Two Twins legends, Rod Carew and Torii Hunter, took deals with the Angels after a long battle with the front office over salaries. While they were a part of very competitive Angels teams, they never won a World Series. 

Weather Factor: Sunny, slight wind, no rain. Not sure what else we’d expect!

Pitching Probables
Game 1 – Friday, May 19, 2023 – 8:38 pm CDT – For the first game of the series, the Twins send Joe Ryan (6-1, 2.16 ERA) to the mound and hope to set the tone for the series. Ryan's last appearance against the Cubs was one of his best performances (0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K). Ryan's fastball is the most effective in his arsenal, and he uses it 60% of the time. In his only other start against the Angels, he struck out five hitters in four innings but still allowed three earned runs, which came off the bats of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. 

Angels southpaw starting pitcher Reid Detmers (0-3, 4.89ERA) has yet to record a win this year. His closest look at a win was last week, when he left the game with a lead after pitching 5+ innings, before the bullpen lost that game to the Guardians. Detmers has allowed 19 runs in 35 IP, but he also has a FIP of 3.91 and a K/9 of 10.5. Meanwhile, the Twins have the third-highest strikeout rate in the league. If he throws strikes, gets guys to chase, and get run support, he could keep the Twins from producing a lot of damage and potentially get his first win. 

Game 2 – Saturday, May 20, 2023 – 9:07 pm CDT - Louie Varland has settled into the Twins rotation nicely and his confidence appears to be growing. Varland got his first win of the season against the Cubs and he brought his K/9 up to 10.57. He also leaves guys stranded 86.7% of the time, and fans have seen him get out of some sticky situations which will be an asset against this lineup.

The Angels lineup ranks fourth in the AL in runs per game, with players like Ohtani, Trout, Hunter Renfroe and former Twin, Gio Urshela. Varland is going to have to be consistent to get out ahead of the Angels and minimize their ability to get on base or bring guys home.

The Twins will face another left-handed starter, Patrick Sandoval (3-2. 3.22 ERA). He has come out strong early in games - opposing batters have a .450 OPS the first time they face him in a game - but then seems to fall off. Sandoval gives up a lot of walks (BB/9 3.22) and doesn’t strike out many batters (K/9 6.25). But the Twins have a heavy lefty line-up and will likely sit several of their hotter bats. If the Twins offense can get through Sandoval quickly and get to the bullpen, they can bring in the big guns to finish out the game. 

Game 3 - Sunday, May 21, 2023 – 3:07 pm CDT - Pablo Lopez (2-2, 3.47ERA) returns after a rough start against the Dodgers on Monday night in Los Angeles. Twins fans know that Lopez misses bats (11 K/9, fifth in the AL). He also has the advantage of never having faced the Angels in his career.  

The Angels will likely send Shohei Ohtani (5-1, 2.74ERA) to close out the series' last game. In his last outing, Ohtani appeared uncomfortable on the mound from neck pain so he is being monitored this week, but he has played since as a designated hitter. Ohtani has faced the Twins twice. Both times he stifled the offense, allowing only three earned runs combined and striking out 18 hitters. 

Prediction Time!
What's your prediction for this series? Will Pablo Lopez have redemption in California? Will the Twins let off the gas during this series after the Dodgers? Who do you see being the biggest impact player in this series? Let us know in the comments! Go, Twins!

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[Jocko87]

Interested to watch Zach Neto as well as the big guns.  He should be a good Brooks Lee comparison. 

[D.C Twins]

Free Bubble-Wrapped-Buck!

Keeping him off the field given the team needs is getting sad and embarrassing

[jmlease1]

Looking forward to this series, and hoping the team bounces back after the Blue Screwjob and a disappointing result to the series. That late start saturday is going to be a bit rough, lol.

I think our starting pitching gives us a chance in any series, but I wouldn't have minded skipping past Sandoval and Ohtani. 

[USAFChief]

The Twins haven't won a road series since opening the season in KC.

About time.

[USAFChief]

"Interesting Fact: Two Twins legends, Rod Carew and Torii Hunter, took deals with the Angels after a long battle with the front office over salaries."

 

There was certainly salary acrimony, but Carew didn't leave as a free agent.  The Twins traded Carew to the Angels in Feb 79, for Kenny Landreaux and 3 others of little consequence. 

[Whitey333]

Continuing their road struggles I predict the Twins lose 2 of 3.  With two lefties going in the series I am sure Rocco will give plenty of rest to Gallo, Kiriloff, Larnach.  This players are going to have to start playing regularly against lefties.  IMO the right hand platoons aren't all that great.  This team us not great.  They are decent with still a lot of holes in it.  Go Twins.  We should have swept the Dodgers.  Gave away two games.  It happened s way too often in the Baldelli era.

[OvertheHill]

I can see them winning two, if only because I can't see a repeat of the combination of bad calls and bullpen blow ups of late. Yeah I'm a sucker for this stuff.

[stringer bell]

Wondering about the lineups for tonight and tomorrow. If Polanco isn’t playing, he should go on the IL IMHO. I’m pretty sure Gallo and maybe Larnach also are on the bench at least once in the first two games. Garlick will probably get two starts as well.