Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

  • Series Preview: Time to Put the Chi-Sox Out of Their Misery

    Steven Trefz

    By Steven Trefz

    This feels like a set-up. Can the Twins avoid the trap and swipe the series from a team in crisis?

    Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

    Twins Video

    At the beginning of the 2023 season, the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins sat at about even odds of winning the World Series. What a difference a month makes! The Twins enter this three-game tilt at Guaranteed Rate Field with a 17-12 record, and a commanding nine-game lead over the White Sox after only 29 games.

    On Tuesday night, the Twins begin a six-game AL Central road trip with a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox. Chicago is in free-fall mode, having just benched Luis Robert for not hustling on what he claims is a tight hamstring. They had a miracle ninth-inning comeback against the Rays on Sunday, which stopped a 10-game losing streak. Minnesota, meanwhile, has been winning series both home and away, and looks to extend their lead over their long-time rivals.

    Fun Fact: The Twins took two of three from the White Sox in mid-April at Target Field, but the scores were as close as they get. 3-4, 4-3, and 3-1. Since then the Sox have gone 3-13, and 8-21 overall in Pedro Grifol's first year as manager.

    Weather Factor: Chicago looks to be chilly, with temperatures in the low-40's and slight winds adding to the chill (and probably keeping the baseball in the park) Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Thursday's afternoon game might touch the high-50's if they get lucky.

    Pitching Probables
    Game 1 - Tuesday, May 2nd - 6:10pm CDT     - The first game in the series will feature Twins RHP Joe Ryan (5-0, 2.81 ERA) versus White Sox RHP Michael Kopech (0-3, 7.01 ERA). While Ryan is tied for the MLB lead in wins, Kopech is still looking for his first win on the season. 

    On paper, this looks like a great matchup for the Twins to kick off the road trip. The Twins have yet to face Kopech this season, however, and their lineup has a cumulative .180 batting average against him in 74 plate appearances. Ryan has little experience against the current White Sox lineup, but will face a team charged up from an improbable comeback in their most recent game. Will the momentum of a seven-run ninth-inning rally be enough to overcome the inertia of a .675 OPS? Or will Ryan's stuff continue to dominate against this short-handed squad?

    Game 2 – Wednesday, May 3rd – 6:10pm CDT - The Twins announced that RHP Louie Varland (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will take the mound opposite White Sox RHP Dylan Cease (2-1, 4.15 ERA). Louie Varland last pitched April 27th for the St. Paul Saints, going 5 1/3 innings and getting the win. He seems to be the logical call up with Tyler Mahle getting shut down for a period of time.

    Varland looked sharp at Yankee Stadium in mid-April, and Cease faced the Twins on April 10th at Target Field. He five innings and gave up three hits and three runs over that span. Cease's last outing ended after only four innings, having surrendered seven runs to the Blue Jays.

    Game 3 - Thursday, May 4th (be with you) - 1:10pm CDT - The Twins have scheduled RHP Pablo Lopez (2-2, 4.00 ERA) to close out the series. The White Sox will counter with RHP Lucas Giolito (1-2, 4.15 ERA). Lopez earned a no-decision against the White Sox in their first matchup this season, going 7 2/3 innings with 10 strike outs, giving up two runs.

    Last time the Twins saw Giolito they handed him a hard-luck loss, and he handed Kyle Farmer a 91.6 mph fastball to the teeth. The action on the field shook-up players, coaches, and fans. Nothing about the pitch seemed intentional, but it will be interesting to see if the moment comes up in any way as the two teams meet again this week. 

    Prediction Time!
    What’s your prediction for this important road series against the White Sox? Can the Twins offense feast on a pitching staff with an ERA barely under 6.00? Will the momentum of Chicago's walk-off win Sunday to snap the 10-game skid continue all the way into Tuesday? Let's go, Twins Territory, tell us what you think!

     
    Steve is on a mission to take in a Twins series in every Major League ballpark by 2025.
    Follow the journey on Twitter @TwinsTrefz

    MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
    — Latest Twins coverage from our writers
    — Recent Twins discussion in our forums
    — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email
    — Become a Twins Daily Caretaker

     Share
     Share
    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Featured Comments

    Blyleven2011

    Blyleven2011 1,928

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Time to strike is when the twins are hot and Chicago is not  ... 

    We need to lengthen our lead in the  division  over Chicago and Cleveland  early and run away with the division  and take advantage that they are not playing  well or it might just be a disappointment  ...

    The twins better show up to play with a killer instinct  and win on the road ...

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Peter

    Peter 302

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Sweep the Sox and take 2-1 against Cleveland-now is time to blow this division open and run away with. Let’s go Twins!!!!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Steven Trefz

    Steven Trefz 413

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    25 minutes ago, Peter said:

    Sweep the Sox and take 2-1 against Cleveland-now is time to blow this division open and run away with. Let’s go Twins!!!!

    The thing I was thinking was this...If you can build the lead in May and June, you can experiment with call ups and tweak the roster with post-season relief options without as much risk. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    JD-TWINS

    JD-TWINS 1,535

  • Silver Caretaker

    • Posted

    56 minutes ago, Steven Trefz said:

    The thing I was thinking was this...If you can build the lead in May and June, you can experiment with call ups and tweak the roster with post-season relief options without as much risk. 

    The reality flip side is that if you build a lead you don’t want to change your players…….maybe a guy or two in the bullpen?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    minman1982

    minman1982 218

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    1 hour ago, Reptevia said:

    Twins Sweep. 

    I really want to say a Twins sweep but I have a feeling that the Sox will find a way to steal one. I will go Twins win series 2-1.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    jmlease1

    jmlease1 7,838

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I normally root for the ChiSox to lose at all times, but I was weirdly happy to see them steal a win against TB. Just felt like it would be classic MN sports luck for a team in an epic losing streak to break it against us and win a series.

    Going into the season, I didn't think the ChiSox had done enough to address their offense and that seems to be playing out so far. Sure, they've had some guys miss time, but they're also just not very deep and it's showing. the pitching is a bit better than it's shown so far (Kopech is better than this and should get it going soon, hopefully not against us!) but they were always asking for a lot in counting on Clevinger and Lynn. The whole staff has been very very hittable, so if the twins batters stay within themselves, and stick to their plans at the plate, they should be able to pound out a lot of hits. they're clearly missing Hendriks in the bullpen, but adding one stud to the back end won't fix their problems. the team WHIP is just rotten.

    That said, a series win would be great. Go on the road, take 2 of 3 against a division opponent and life is good. Would love the sweep, but I'll be very happy with a series win.

    Especially looking forward to seeing how Varland does, assuming he's the one who slides in for Mahle.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Monkeypaws

    Monkeypaws 3,352

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    The White Sox are the worst performing team compared to payroll in MLB: .276 winning % for the 14th highest payroll. . Only Colorado and SF come close.

    This is especially notable when looking 3 of the 4 bottom payrolls, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh,

     

    Seems like every year however, the Twins bring some dormant team to life. Hopefully this isn't the time.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Jocko87

    Jocko87 1,818

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    2 hours ago, Steven Trefz said:

    The thing I was thinking was this...If you can build the lead in May and June, you can experiment with call ups and tweak the roster with post-season relief options without as much risk. 

    Levine said something about that in the new diamond cutter’s video thing. April and May for eval, June and July are for changes and after that along for the ride. I thought it was interesting as they normally wouldn’t talk like that, much less in a in house production. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    valgravel91

    valgravel91 8

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I predict it looks like we're losing the getaway day game through 7 or so, but then the Sox win it for us with one of the most confounding errors you've ever seen  

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Steven Trefz

    Steven Trefz 413

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    31 minutes ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

    It may or may not be a sign of how things are going, but the White Sox made ELEVEN roster moves today:

     

    it could mean “we know who’s buying in and who isn’t” or it could mean “mutiny!”

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    John Belinski

    John Belinski 232

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    We now know the Twins will not sweep the Soxs and if the Twins hitters keep swinging at bad pitches they will continue to lose games they could have won. The 10th inning last night was highlighted by the Twin's batters swinging at pitches that were not even close to strike zone< but Rocco said we just need to get more hits.  Maybe someone should tell Rocco that a walk is as good as a hit. Our .200 average batters are swinging at pitches way out of strike zone, when they could take a walk. I can only assume Rocco talks to his batters about this, but with Rocco no one knows what he does.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    JD-TWINS

    JD-TWINS 1,535

  • Silver Caretaker

    • Posted

    7 hours ago, John Belinski said:

    We now know the Twins will not sweep the Soxs and if the Twins hitters keep swinging at bad pitches they will continue to lose games they could have won. The 10th inning last night was highlighted by the Twin's batters swinging at pitches that were not even close to strike zone< but Rocco said we just need to get more hits.  Maybe someone should tell Rocco that a walk is as good as a hit. Our .200 average batters are swinging at pitches way out of strike zone, when they could take a walk. I can only assume Rocco talks to his batters about this, but with Rocco no one knows what he does.

    He means we need more than 3 hits before we get to the 10th inning. Can’t score without hits.

    Agreed, batters looked foolish in the box against their pitcher in the 10th - Vasquez probably should have sacrificed to get Gallo to 3rd & apply pressure. Vasquez swung at a minimum of two pitches over shoulder height - Gordon took a cut a ball outside the zone & made an out - Buxton went way up & out of the zone to end the game.

    Don't understand playing for the big inning when you have a runner in scoring position to start the inning. Gotta score that guy from 2nd as the priority!!!

    Lopez was subpar!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    jimbo92107

    jimbo92107 7,751

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Time and again, baseball teaches us to avoid even a hint of hubris. That's why experienced coaches and managers scrupulously avoid superlatives and extreme terms, opting instead for "pretty good" and "scuffling" over more exciting descriptors. 

    For that reason, and just for politeness, the bit about putting Chicago out of their misery was a bit much. Quite possible it was intercepted by somebody there and posted on a locker room wall. 

    Anyway, now Chicago is playing pretty good, while the Twins seem to be scuffling in the late innings. Okay, tomorrow's another day, they'll have to regroup and try again. Trust the process, and support your pitcher. Pablo Lopez is slated to start on Thursday. Let's hope he can put his previous scuffles behind and put up some zeroes. If so, he can give the Twins a chance to win one off the surprisingly good White Sox.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...