TV: FSN
Know Thine Enemy: Bless You Boys
Patron Saint: Jeff Reardon
Much like Blackstacheburn last night, the Twins need a good outing from their starter this afternoon. Slowey's been beat up his last few times on the mound, and has totalled just 12.1 innings in his last three starts. More specific than "making better two-strike pitches and avoiding the big inning", Kevin just needs to be aggressive and get in front of hitters. If he could keep working his slider for strikes, that would help too.
Slowey hasn't been a big strikeout guy in his career, but the threat was always there. This season that seems to have disappeared a little, although he has been getting a few more swings and misses the last few games. If he can put everything together, we could see him shine this afternoon in the Minnesota sun.
Oliver is a 22-year old southpaw, and some might say he's trying to steal Rick Porcello's 20-year old thunder. But he's not, because he's not 20. But he was a 2nd-round draft pick in 2009. But he's still not Porcello. But he did get called up directly from double-A.
In his first Major League start, Oliver pitched pretty well. Only five hits and a walk in six innings, en route to just two runs in Atlanta. He throws a good mid-90s fastball, a slider in the low-80s and a mid-80s changeup.
The kid could be good. But he doesn't have to be good today.