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

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!