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GameThread: Twins @ White Sox, Game 2

The Twins were able to do a little damage against Chris Sale on Opening Day, but it wasn't enough to beat the White Sox. Today, they turn to Kevin Correia to even the series at one win apiece.

By Andrew Bryzgornia
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
First Pitch: 1:10 PM CST
TV: FSN
Radio: 96.3 KTWIN, TIBN
Know Thine Enemy: South Side Sox

Yes, the Twins lost their first game on Monday against Chris Sale and the White Sox. But frankly, I wasn't upset at all, as I'm just happy that baseball is back.

I'll be at work during the game, but I'll see if I can't sneak the lineups into this GameThread before the first pitch.

Kevin Correia (9-13, 4.18 in 2013)

I don't think anyone thought Kevin Correia would pitch as well as he did last year. His signing was ridiculed by many Twins fans, including myself, and yet he proved the doubters wrong. Although his pitch-to-contact style wasn't sexy, it was effective as he used a career-low walk rate and his highest strand rate since 2007 to turn in a very effective season.

Correia will primarily throw a high-80s cutter, but he also throws a solid mix of 4-seam and 2-seam fastballs, a splitter, and a curveball. Throughout his career, the 2-seamer has rated as his best pitch.

Felipe Paulino (Did not play in 2013)

Early in his career, Paulino was not much of a pitcher. Despite a live arm, he spent 2007 to midway through the 2011 season struggling to establish himself, as he consistently posted an ERA at or above 5.11 with the Astros and Rockies. That ERA would balloon to over 7 in his lone partial season in Colorado, but because of his capability of throwing in the high-90s with his fastball, the Kansas City Royals took a chance on him, and it certainly paid off. Paulino pitched to a 4.11 ERA in 21 appearances (20 starts) for the Royals along with averaging nearly 9 strikeouts per 9 innings, and it seemed like he would be an anchor to the pitching rotation for the 2012 season.

Paulino started off 2012 even better as he had a 1.67 ERA in 7 starts, but then he blew out his elbow and required Tommy John surgery. The Royals chose not to retain him and now it's the White Sox that hope that he can regain that magic from Kansas City instead of being the punching bag he was in Houston and Colorado. Pre-surgery, Paulino would pair his mid to high-90s fastball with a hard slider, upper-80s change-up and high-70s curveball. As long as he can stay in the game, he should rack up plenty of strikeouts against the Twins today.

Twins

  1. Brian Dozier, 2B
  2. Joe Mauer, 1B
  3. Josh Willingham, DH
  4. Jason Kubel, LF
  5. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
  6. Oswaldo Arcia, RF
  7. Kurt Suzuki, C
  8. Aaron Hicks, CF
  9. Pedro Florimon, SS

SP Kevin Correia


White Sox

  1. Adam Eaton, CF
  2. Marcus Semien, 3B
  3. Jose Abreu, 1B
  4. Adam Dunn, DH
  5. Avisail Garcia, RF
  6. Alejandro De Aza, LF
  7. Alexei Ramirez, SS
  8. Tyler Flowers, C
  9. Leury Garcia, 2B

SP Felipe Paulino

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