Series Preview: Twins at White Sox, maybe they’ll actually play all the games this time

After a frustrating home stand the Twins are flying out on a high note, and heading south-east to Guaranteed Rate Field to face the White Sox, who are 8-20. The Twins are 10-16, but still just 4.5 games behind Cleveland for the AL Central lead. As you may remember, these two teams were scheduled to meet in Minneapolis in mid-April, but three out of the four games were postponed due to an unseasonable snow storm. Minnesota won the one game they did play with a strong outing by Jose Berrios shutting out the Pale Hose.

Jake Odorizzi looks to keep trending in the right direction after giving up a single run in six innings during his last start. Chicago might be a good place for him to do that. While he hasn’t seen a lot of the young Chicago line-up, he has pitched very well against those he has seen. He’s only given up six hits total, five singles and one dong, in 28 at-bats. The Sox starter is Reynaldo Lopez, who has avoided pitching against Minnesota in his two seasons in the league. Logan Morrison did face him last season, however, and went 2-for-3 with a home run.

Unlike Odorizzi, Jose Berrios is coming off his worst outing of the season. In his short career he’s absolutely handcuffed the White Sox, who are only are hitting .132/.202/.187 in 91 at-bats. Berrios will face fellow “young pitcher” Carson Fulmer, who has been knocked around by the Twins, giving up six hits in only 14 at-bats. Three of those hits were dingers, including two by Brian Dozier.

Lance Lynn will look to get his season back on track in game three. Wellington Castillo is the one player for the Sox who has a significant number of at-bats against Lynn. Castillo has eight hits in twelve attempts, and three home runs. Fortunately, Lynn will be facing old friend Hector Santiago. Remember him? He pitched very “not good” during parts of two seasons for the Twins. More importantly, he has pitched “not good” against the Twins as well. Dozier has three doubles and a .385 average against Santiago, while Logan Morrison has two home runs, in only five at-bats. Gregorio Petit has hit a homer the only time he faced Santiago.

The final game sends Kyle Gibson to the rubber. Gibson should have won his last two starts, but the bullpen happened instead. “Good Gibson” has generally showed up when he has faced the Sox, as he’s limited them to .212/.253/.318 while allowing only one home run. James Shields, on the mound for Chicago, hasn’t been the pitcher he once was over the last a couple seasons, and has just a 5.35 ERA this season. The Twins know him very well, with 219 plate appearances against the veteran. Brian Dozier has absolutely destroyed baseballs when facing Shields, hitting five doubles, four home runs, and walking six times. Joe Mauer, Logan Morrison, and Miguel Sano each have a home run against Shields as well.

Pitching Match-ups

Game 1: Thursday, May 3rd; 7:10 pm CT — Jake Odorizzi RHP vs. Reynaldo Lopez RHP

Game 2: Friday, May 4th; 7:10 pm CT — Jose Berrios RHP vs. Carson Fulmer RHP

Game 3: Saturday, May 5th; 6:10 pm CT — Lance Lynn RHP vs. Hector Santiago LHP

Game 4: Sunday, May 6th; 1:10 pm CT — Kyle Gibson RHP vs. James Shields RHP

Notes

• According to Rhett Bollinger, Byron Buxton will be traveling with the team, and could play during the series if he is able to run.
• Chicago placed outfielder Avisail Garcia on the 10-day DL on April 24th, and called up an old friend, Daniel Palka to replace him. Garcia, if healthy, would be eligible to return during this series
• The first game of this series is also available to watch via ESPN+, which is apparently a new streaming service? There’s a 7-day free trial, if you want to try it out I guess (blackout restrictions probably still apply).