Series Preview: Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins

After sweeping the Cardinals in St. Louis, the Mariners proceed their annual early-season cursèd march by way of the Midwest with a stopoff in Minnesota, the well-known not-roof-havers. The Twins are recent off their very own sweeping, at the fingers of former Mariner Ben Williamson and the Tampa Bay Rays. They’ve misplaced 5 straight and 9 of their final ten, as they’re beginning to actually seem like the staff PECOTA predicted for underneath 80 wins.

The Twins are in rebuild mode, so that they have already introduced up (and despatched down) a few their MLB-ready pitching prospects, one in every of whom will make the beginning on Monday in opposition to the Mariners: lefty Connor Prielipp, which means the Mariners must pull out their righty-heavy lineup once more within the sequence opener. Offensively, Minnesota introduced up contact-monster infielder Luke Keaschall for a pair months final season and he continues on with the staff this season, however has dropped off considerably after a torrid begin to his MLB profession. The Twins’ different prime offensive prospects, Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper, stay at Triple-A for now; Jenkins is working again from a hamstring damage, and Culpepper remains to be gaining expertise at the extent. The prime prospects are shut however nonetheless a methods away for Minnesota, so the Mariners will see the group that remained after the Twins stripped down the staff final commerce deadline (particularly bullpen-wise), accented by their modest low season upgrades fairly than a full youth motion.

Byron Buxton is the Twins’ leadoff man and the religious coronary heart of this staff, though he is slowing down because the perpetually-injured outfielder strikes by way of his early 30s. He’s adopted by Trevor Larnach, whose efficiency has aggravated Twins followers sufficient that they were trying to trade him to Seattle this off-season. Josh Bell, one of many aforementioned modest low season upgrades, often hits third, and those that have lengthy clamored for Josh Bell, Seattle Mariner, might be happy to know that he continues to be Josh Bell. We are a constant king.

Things get spongy after that, as supervisor Derek Shelton has tried a number of totally different lineup combos. Usually one of many Twins’ catchers bats cleanup, often Ryan Jeffers however switch-hitting Victor Caratini, who also can play first base, can slot in round there too. Then it is a spin-the-wheel to see what the underside half of the lineup spits out in what order. Third baseman Royce Lewis might be in there someplace, together with shortstop Brooks Lee, off to a stable begin this yr; the outfield is an analogous mixture of bench gamers all steadily ignoring the “starting jobs this way” signal.

The Twins promoted Connor Prielipp final week to make his main league debut in opposition to the Mets. He accomplished 4 innings, permitting two runs on 4 hits whereas placing out six. Entering the season, he was ranked because the Twins prime pitching prospect and their third general prospect. A pair of great elbow accidents — one in school in 2021 and one within the minors in ’23 — have curtailed their growth considerably, however their uncooked stuff has continued to look dominant. His finest pitch is an excellent slider that options tight, downward motion and better than common velocity. His fastball is ok — it is the pitch he can command the perfect at the second — and his changeup has flashed some promise, though he has bother along with his really feel for that offspeed pitch.

Joe Ryan survived the Twins dump final summer time, and with Pablo López sidelined with Tommy John surgical procedure this yr, he has develop into the de facto ace of the pitching employees. His four-seam fastball is without doubt one of the finest in baseball. He’s in a position to generate a particularly flat method angle with the pitch due to a great quantity of experience and a very low arm angle. His ongoing situation has been attempting to determine the correct mix of secondary pitches to pair along with his heater. He’s now throwing three totally different breaking balls and a splitter to maintain batters off his fastball.

The Twins acquired Taj Bradley from the Rays final summer time in a deal that has turned out to be considerably of a coup. Back in 2023, Bradley was probably the most extremely regarded pitching prospects in baseball, however he struggled to harness his spectacular uncooked stuff throughout his first three seasons within the large leagues. Tampa Bay reduce bait on him, and he continued to wrestle in Minnesota after the commerce, however he is managed to place every thing collectively this season. The largest distinction for him has been small changes to his cutter and splitter to distinguish these pitches from his fastball. His cutter is breaking glove facet just a little extra and his splitter is diving out of the zone extra typically. With a particularly excessive arm slot and an arsenal that closely depends on vertical motion, these small modifications have had a huge effect on his outcomes on the mound.

We’re nonetheless not wanting at standings, but when we have been, we might level out that the Mariners have firmly stepped on the Angels in climbing out of the cellar of the division whereas leaving Houston buried at the underside. The A’s and Rangers simply spent a sequence slugging it out in opposition to one another, pushing the Athletics to the highest of the division for now, however the Mariners lurk simply behind these two groups. The A’s welcome in Kansas City this week, whereas Texas has to deal with the Yankees staff that simply hung out beating up on the Astros. The Astros, in the meantime, journey to Baltimore, and the Angels make an analogous journey to the Mariners, heading north to tackle the Chicago White Sox.