Series Preview: Red Sox at Twins

The Twins took 2 of 3 against the Marlins (woo!), but now face a likely tougher team in the Red Sox. Let's take a quick look at them:

Boston comes in at 34-25 and two games back in the division lead from the Orioles in the AL East. Much of their success is based on 4 players: David Ortiz, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley, and Mookie Betts who have combined for about 12 WAR so far this year. Of course, Dustin Pedroia is still good at 2B, and Travis Shaw is doing good things at 3B.

Did I mention Ortiz has an OPS of 1.153 and 16 HRs? Yeah, he's really good this year. Also, he's retiring.

On the pitching side, things aren't as bright but there are still some positives. David Price started the year very badly (7 starts, 6.75 ERA), but in his last 6 starts has a 2.55 ERA. Eternal 20-year old Rick Porcello is doing alright with a 4.05 ERA. Steven Wright leads their staff in ERA at 2.29 and WAR at 1.8.

Their bullpen is very good, and is lead by Craig Kimbrel, Matt Barnes, and Junichi Tazawa.  Team wise, they are 20th in ERA (4.30), and 9th in strikeouts (507).

Who's hot:

Eduardo Nunez: 9-27, 3 HR

Brian Dozier: 9-27, 1 HR, 3 2B

David Ortiz: 4-10, 3 2B

Who's not:

Hanley Ramirez: 1-18

Max Kepler: 2-16

Game 1

Friday, June 10th 7:10 PM CST

Steven Wright (6-4, 2.29) vs Tyler Duffey (2-4, 4.79)

Game 2

Saturday, June 11th 1:10 PM CST

Eduardo Rodriguez (1-1, 5.40) vs Kyle Gibson (0-3, 6.10)

Kyle makes his return, for real this time (probably). Looking forward to the Eduardo vs. Eduardo match-ups.

Game 3

Sunday, June 12th 1:10 PM CST

Rick Porch-Cello (7-1, 4.04) vs Pat Dean (1-2, 4.75)

Prediction: David Ortiz is going to be talked about.