Grab Your #2 Pencil. It’s Test Time for the Twins this Weekend

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While everyone in Minnesota is getting primed and lubed up for the Final Four that will be in town this weekend, there are way more important things going on in a place that is much different than our own… and much worse. In the land of Philadelphia, where horse shit is what’s for dinner, the Twins will be playing 3 very important baseball games.

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Of course, it’s only games 6,7, and 8 of 162 and soon, this series will be long forgotten as we continue to trudge through the 2019 MLB season. However, for a team that will have to prove it’s for real all season long, this is the perfect series to play early on, and that is why this measuring-dick (not a typo) series has me stuck at midnight.

We get to watch our suddenly sexy pitching staff face off against one of the best lineups in the MLB. And tonight, Jake Odorizzi will be the first in line, looking to prove his first start was for real and that his 2019-self will be a much better version than his first season in the Twin Cities.

What to Watch For:

There are some very intriguing things to keep an eye on throughout this series. Obviously, everyone is going to be excited to watch Bryce Harper. I don’t give a fuck about old-school baseball anymore. There’s too much that needs to be fixed to worry about that. I hope I see a Bryce Harper bat flip that lands in the god damn press box. But, beyond Harper, here are some things I’ll be paying attention to:

  1. We are about to see an offensive explosion – This could be the perfect time to play the Phillies. We might see some sparks fly all weekend long. Though the Twins are 4-1 and off to a great start, they’ve been suprisingly held together by good pitching and timely hits…. quite the opposite of what we expected coming into the season. The Twins have just 1 Home run through 5 games. That won’t last long. I’m waiting to see some BOMBS dropped by the away team over the next 3 days.
  2. Can our pitching hold up? – The Twins currently rank 6th in ERA, 5th in WHIP, and 4th in H/9, throughout the entire MLB… Those are real facts… check the link. How long can they hold up. I can’t imagine they’ll remain in the top-5 or 10 all season but if they can hang in the top-half of the league, we should be in for a fun summer, as long as the boom-sticks get going on offense.
  3. Does the Baldelli Touch Continue? – Everything Rocco Baldelli has touched so far has turned to gold. Fuck, he threw a college pitching coach into the clubhouse and now our same shitty pitchers from 2018 are sitting in the top-5 of most major stat categories…. it’s insanity.
  4. Willians Astudillo Cont. – How do you take this guy out of your lineup? He is hitting over .600 with an OPS of over 1.6 on the season… and comes through EVERY TIME he is put into a clutch situation… plus, you can play him anywhere. We know Astudillo will be part of the catching rotation but where else will he play and what will the Twins do to make sure he gets at-bats IF he stays on his smolder-streak…

I’m so jacked for this series that I’m a bit depressed they are starting with a night game tonight, instead of these day-games you get so used to at the beginning of the season… Keep the hope alive. And if you need more Twins in your life today, the first half of our podcast episode was dedicated to them this week.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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