:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65243158/1144728437.jpg.0.jpg)
Time: 6:10 Central. Vegas Line: -105 MIN / +115 CLE
Weather: 82° with slight breeze at first pitch, storms sometime later
Opponent’s SB site can be found here
TV: FSN. Radio: Will probably say a Twin is “slow getting up” again
Didn’t we just see these guys?
Aaron Civale is a 24-year-old righthander whose player profile picture makes him look 44. He throws a low-90s fastball which can break either way, and three offspeed pitches that work when they’re down. This is his rookie season; he’s faced the Twins twice, allowing two runs in 11 innings. FanGraphs has analysis of him here, featuring several GIFs of Twins players whiffing.
Projections don’t think Civale will be as successful in The Future as he has been in his first eight starts, but hey, sometimes projections are wrong. Or they’re right, and he’ll be the next Scott Diamond.
Now that Michael Pineda got caught with banned pee pills, your most consistent Twins starter over the last month-plus has been Jake Odorizzi. In his last eight games, he’s given up 15 earned runs, 2 dingers, and notched 54 K’s in 44.1 innings. Good news, if the Twins make the playoffs! Of course, his start just before those eight games was against the Yankees, and Odo got stomped. Which is bad news if the Twins make the playoffs.
(I always thought his nickname should be “Jodo” instead, because “Odo” is a Deep Space Nine character, but it is a pretty badass DS9 character. Now we just need a pitcher nicknamed Worf.)
And, finally, seeing as this is the last Friday Twins game in Cleveland this year, permit my annual reminder that there are no federally-recognized Native American tribes in Ohio.
Do-Hyoung Park at MLB.com reported last night that Sano / Cave / Kepler had been taking batting swings. Looks like 2 of 3 are well enough for this one.