Series Preview (DET 6/15-6/18): Twins Licking Their Chops for Some Tiger Meat

[Steven Trefz]

The 27-39 Detroit Tigers come to Target Field for a four game series beginning Thursday night. On paper this looks like a prime opporuntity for the 35-33 Twins to feast and to break away from the .500 mark. In reality, we know the Tigers won't go down without a fight. Here's how the series sets up.

Image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Most midwestern socialites have been faced with a difficult choice at a local gathering. The bowl of "tiger meat" that sits on the table, consisting of raw hamburger, raw egg, onion, salt, and other unmentionable food products: Do I feast upon it or avoid it completely? This upcoming four game series with the Detroit Tigers carries a similar warning. At its best, it could be a four game sweep filled with stories to tell our friends about the whole week long. At its worst, it could have Twins fans running for the bathroom.

Detroit started the season as the darling of MLB, hanging around the .500 mark until mid-May, and staying near the top of the AL Central. They've lost 13 of their last 15 games since their ace Eduardo Rodriguez went down with injury, however, and the season is imploding all around them. The Tigers also enter the series stretched across their bullpen, having had to play a make-up double header against the Braves Wednesday.

The Detroit offense currently doesn't have any standouts. Spencer Torkelson paces the Tigers in RBI with 30. No one has double digit home runs yet, no one is batting over .300, and they are striking out at a near-Twins level so far this season. Riley Greene shows the most consistency across the advanced metrics, Cabrera and Andy Ibanez (3B) have sported an OPS over 1.0 in June, while traditional Twins antagonist Javier Baez has 19 strike outs in 50 at bats in June.

Minnesota comes in after an emotional two game sweep of the Brewers. They spent a day below the .500 mark, and it appears to have woken up the bats as the Twins have averaged over five runs a game and have gone 4-1 over their last five outings. Byron Buxton (as of 6/15) will make his return this series. Will it be in CF, or will he continue as DH? Without him in the lineup the Twins have padded their lead on the AL Central to 3.5 games over Cleveland, and Detroit is sitting in fourth place at 7.0 games back. 

Carlos Correa is swinging a clutch bat this week, and the Twins have shown overall consistency at the plate over the past week. Two left-handed starters and a whole lot of bullpen usage by the Tigers in this series will bring different looks and angles to the mound, and the Twins will have to adapt and react to the inconsistency of the Tiger pitching staff over the weekend.

Interesting Fact: Tiger's future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera finally hit his first home run of the season in Game 1 of the double header yesterday to put him at 508 for his career. Two months into the season is a long time to wait for your key slugger to come up with a home run. Let's hope that he didn't find the fountain of youth yesterday as he heads into Target Field.

Weather Factor: Thursday and Friday night look to be beautiful unless the smoke haze returns on Thursday. Saturday and Sunday bring chances of a thunderstorm for the afternoon tilts. Should be a great time to pack Target Field!

Pitching Probables
Game 1 - Thursday, June 15, 2023 – 6:10pm CDT – The Twins start the series with RHP Sonny Gray (4-1, 2.25 ERA) going against Tigers LHP and potential trade bait Matthew Boyd (3-5, 5.55 ERA). Gray is surprisingly 0-1 over his last seven games, with a 3.65 ERA over that span, while Boyd has struggled to a 2-3, 5.61 ERA line over his last seven outings.

Game 2 – Friday, June 16, 2023 – 7:10pm CDT – Twins RHP Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.90 ERA) takes the hill in Friday night's game, and the Tigers have yet to name their starter for the evening. Ryan's last seven games has represented the Twins slide of late, going 2-3 with a 3.40 ERA after starting the season 5-0. The call-ups for the Tiger staff during this series will be a daily occurrence with the schedule and weather not playing them any favors earlier this week.

Game 3 - Saturday, June 17, 2023 - 1:10pm CDT - The Twins have shuffled their normal pitching rotation for the final two games of the series, pushing Pablo Lopez back a game into the Red Sox series on Monday most likely. They haven't named Saturday's starter yet, with Kenta Maeda's rehab plan lining up with a potential re-entry into the rotation. Detroit will put another left-hander on the mound, with Joey Wentz (1-6, 7.23) aiming to find some consistency. He's either been lights out or light up the scoreboard in the early months of the season.

Game 4  - Sunday, June 18, 2023 - 1:10pm CDT - The Twins give the ball to RHP Louie Varland (3-2, 4.70) who will be pitching on six days rest. The Tigers haven't named a starter yet. Varland continues to show consistency, and seeing what he accomplishes with an extra couple of days will be worth watching.

Prediction Time!
What's your prediction for this series?  Can the Twins maintain their lead in the AL Central throughout this series? Who do you see being the biggest impact player in the series? Let us know in the comments! Go, Twins!

AL Central Standings (through June 14)
Minnesota 35-33  
Cleveland  31-36   3.5 GB
Chicago     30-39  5.5 GB
Detroit       27-39   7.0 GB
KC              18-50   17.0 GB

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[Nine of twelve]

I know better than to jinx our favorite team with a prediction. But on the surface the saying that it's not just which team you face but when you face them appears to be in our favor. The Tigers are severely reeling and we are not. Go Twins!

[brycenation]

 Buxton back as dh. 2 for 24 vs Boyd in his career. Maybe another day in the IL or analytics say he’s due. 🥴

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

I am predicting our 3rd sweep of the year.   Gallo, Correa and the rest of the bats go off.  Gallo gets at least 2 HR's against a depleted tigers pitching squad for this series.  

[jmlease1]

These 4 game sets are something. sweep it and you're off to the races and thrilled. 3-1 and you're still feeling very good about things, but you only net 2 games. 2-2 and you're frustrated and disappointed, 1-3 and you're ticked off and wondering what's wrong with the team, and if you get swept you're heating the tar, plucking the feathers, sharpening the pitchforks, and lighting the torches.

I'd love to see the offense really get on a roll here, the bullpen to settle down, and the starting pitching to keep rolling. this is the perfect time to punch the Tigers in the mouth and send them to the beach early in the year.

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Steven Trefz said:

Gray is surprisingly 0-1 over his last seven games, with a 3.65 ERA over that span,

He was supported by more than 3 runs only once, and he was done in by bullpen hilarity at least a couple of times.   He did no worse than keep his team in the game, each outing, and four times was pitcher of record had there been a win instead of a blown save.

Of course one tried and true way to reduce the bullpen's role in your own fate is to pitch deeper into the game.  Come on, Sonny, we're pulling for you!

[Steven Trefz]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

He was supported by more than 3 runs only once, and he was done in by bullpen hilarity at least a couple of times. 

Of course one tried and true way to reduce the bullpen's role in your own fate is to pitch deeper into the game.  Come on, Sonny, we're pulling for you!

I know right! If he and Ryan go 7 innings the next two games its two W's guaranteed.

I'm still most interested in what roster manipulation they have planned for Saturday's start. Seems just plain odd to push Pablo back and Maeda isn't quite ready I don't think.

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, Steven Trefz said:

I know right! If he and Ryan go 7 innings the next two games its two W's guaranteed.

The odds do go up.

[LeatherAntenna]

Now I suppose we can have a tomorrow article title predicting a 3 win 1 loss series, and then after tomorrow we can have another article predicting a series split?

[Steven Trefz]

2 hours ago, LeatherAntenna said:

Now I suppose we can have a tomorrow article title predicting a 3 win 1 loss series, and then after tomorrow we can have another article predicting a series split?

There’s a tongue in cheek pun somewhere…I thought trap series and a run to the bathroom when I wrote this with the two lefties going against us.  The discipline just isn’t there night in and night out for our lineup.

[LeatherAntenna]

8 hours ago, Steven Trefz said:

There’s a tongue in cheek pun somewhere…I thought trap series and a run to the bathroom when I wrote this with the two lefties going against us.  The discipline just isn’t there night in and night out for our lineup.

I get it, you are an optimist or writing a hopeful article.  I like to think at times I am optimistic, but also a pragmatist, and the harsh or not harsh reality is that this team is just a .500 club, an absolute joy at times to watch, other times a teeth gnashing affair to watch.