Game Thread: Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins, 5/10, 6:40pm CST

[TwerkTwonkTwins]

It's been a busy day for injury/COVID updates, all ahead of what is looking like a great pitching matchup. The young Joe Ryan takes on the future Hall-of-Famer, Justin Verlander. 

Before today's matchup, the Twins made quite a few moves. 

1. Chris Paddack and Carlos Correa to the 10-day IL

• Chris Paddack is getting a second opinion on his elbow, and that's never great news. According to Do-Hyoung Park, Paddack feels how he did when he sprained the UCL last September. If there's a tear, it would be his second Tommy John. There's a lot of quick takes on if the Twins lost the Rogers-Paddack trade, but let's wait until a decision is made. The Twins also have control of Paddack through 2024, but it would be a major blow. There's never enough pitching: perhaps the truest cliche in baseball. 
• Carlos Correa has been added to the IL, retroactive to May 6th. Royce Lewis will continue to have a chance to audition at SS, and I have liked the early results from him so far. Correa will not be able to face his former team at Target Field this regular season. 

2. Luis Arraez and Dylan Bundy clear COVID-19 protocol, but not active quite yet.

• I imagine the Twins want Arraez to get acclimated before throwing him back into game action. As for Bundy, no major decision is needed until his next start (Friday has the first "TBD" for a SP). 

3, Dylan Bundy Mark Contreras (!) and Jharel Cotton called up from St. Paul

• Part of the reason why Arraez and Bundy have not been activated is that their 40-man roster spots don't count while on the COVID IL. That means we get to see Mark Contreras and Jharel Cotton come up without any 40-man subtractions. 
• The left-handed Mark Contreras can play all three outfield positions. At 27 years-old, he's not a prospect, but has shown some pop since the beginning of the 2021 season. Contreras leaves AAA with a .239/.350/.489 with 5 home runs. He should serve as a left-handed compliment to Celestino while Buxton still nurses a sore hip, and Larnach remains on the 10-day IL
• Cotton comes back to the Twins, after the designated him for assignment in April. I was surprised he cleared, as he had a decent 2021 season with Texas as a middle reliever. Cotton had a 2.08 ERA in 4.1 innings at St. Paul, with 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. He is a major league pitcher, in my opinion. 

The Matchup:

The Twins and Astros both enter today's game with 18-11 records. While the Twins enter leading the AL Central by 3 games, the Astros are behind the Los Angeles Angels by 1 game. The Twins have a superior run differential, with +25 compared to Houston's +16. 

The Twins will have their work cut out for them tonight, facing the best pitcher in this series and maybe of the generation. Justin Verlander enters today's game with a 3-1 record, 1.93 ERA, and a very small 0.70 WHIP. However, Statcast metrics are down on Verlander, compared to his pre-Tommy John version in 2019. 

 

The Astros will have their first look at Joe Ryan, who comes into tonight's game with a 3-1 record, 1.63 ERA, and a 0.83 WHIP.  The Astros are probably the best offense he has faced to this point in his career. Joe Ryan's major league opponents have included the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and the Baltimore Orioles. This should be a scary, yet valid test for the 25 year-old.

The Lineups:

The Astros' lineup looks very close to what they trotted out on Opening Day, while the Twins' lineup definitely reflects the state of injuries on this team. There's no Buxton, Correa, Larnach, or Arraez to be found. 

ASTROS LINEUP:
1. 2B Jose Altuve (R)
2. LF Michael Brantley (L)
3. 3B Alex Bregman (R)
4. DH Yordan Alvarez (L)
5. 1B Yuli Gurriel (R)
6. RF Kyle Tucker (L)
7. CF Chas McCormick (R)
8. SS Jeremy Pena (R)
9. C Martin Maldonado (R)

TWINS LINEUP:
1. RF Max Kepler (L)
2. 1B Jose Miranda (R)
3. DH Gary Sanchez (R)
4. 2B Jorge Polanco (S)
5. 3B Gio Urshela (R)
6. SS Royce Lewis (R)
7. LF Alex Kirilloff (L)
8. C Ryan Jeffers (R)
9.  CF Gilberto Celestino (R)

[bighat]

Great intro.

Twins lineup is definitely looking very B-Squad here, not sure how they're planning on winning any games in this series unless they can get Buxton off the bench.

Pick to click tonight is Polanco, he's hot and he's homered off Verlander before. Watch out for Niko Goodrum, who's the only Astro to have faced Joe Ryan but is 2-for-2 with 2 homers off him.

[shortround81]

As Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) said before breaking down the Berlin Wall at the 1952 Olympics: "Options!"

[TwerkTwonkTwins]

3 minutes ago, shortround81 said:

As Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) said before breaking down the Berlin Wall at the 1952 Olympics: "Options!"

The lack of our proven 1B, Luis Arraez, has led to this moment!

[CRF]

Let's hope that luck is still on our side...because if it isn't, I think the Stros will come in here and open a can of whup-azz on us for 3 games. 

[stringer bell]

9 minutes ago, TwerkTwonkTwins said:

The lack of our proven 1B, Luis Arraez, has led to this moment!

I’d really like to see Kirilloff break out. 

[Craig Arko]

8 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I’d really like to see Kirilloff break out. 

Hopefully not in hives.

[USAFChief]

Nice job Twink...

 

Nice job Tweett....

 

 

Nice job. 

[Whitey333]

Imagine that.  Buxton not in the lineup again.  Anyone surprised?  This will be the 30th game of the season.  Buxton has only played in 19.  If and when he ever gets in the lineup, I'm sure our great manager will give him a scheduled day off lol.  If twins can somehow win tonight against Verlander with a b squad lineup in there, then I think it's really their year.  I'm pretty much done defending Buxton.  He's hardly ever in the lineup. 

[stringer bell]

9 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Imagine that.  Buxton not in the lineup again.  Anyone surprised?  This will be the 30th game of the season.  Buxton has only played in 19.  If and when he ever gets in the lineup, I'm sure our great manager will give him a scheduled day off lol.  If twins can somehow win tonight against Verlander with a b squad lineup in there, then I think it's really their year.  I'm pretty much done defending Buxton.  He's hardly ever in the lineup. 

I was going to make the same comment with a slightly different spin. My optimism is slowly diminishing. 

[wsnydes]

33 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Nice job Twink...

 

Nice job Tweett....

 

 

Nice job. 

You did it wrong!

 

 

There's only one "t" at the end of Tweet!

[cmoss84]

Friendly pitching bets between Verlander and Ryan:

More K's?

Fewest BBs?

Most HRs given up?

I'm going Verlander across the board. He gives up 2 bombs and we win 3-2. 

[howeda7]

29 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I was going to make the same comment with a slightly different spin. My optimism is slowly diminishing. 

I expect a Buxton to DL move by Thursday to be honest. It's the same basic injury he had last year and missed 6 weeks. Even if it's a lesser version of it.

[PDX Twin]

8 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

I expect a Buxton to DL move by Thursday to be honest. It's the same basic injury he had last year and missed 6 weeks. Even if it's a lesser version of it.

Sadly, I have to say you're probably right. It's hollow consolation to know that it's likely costing him salary with all the performance clauses.

[Muppet]

Gotta say, this b squad lineup is looking much better than some recent a squad lineups I’ve seen. Momentum is in the right direction for some of these kids. Hopefully their grit that barely won all the games against some of the leagues bottom of the barrel teams continues. The Orioles and As were practice. Time to shine. 

[MadHits]

I really don't trust the Twins training staff. If Buxton is dealing with the hip flexor issue he had last year, he should be resting on the DL, not trying to work through it during pregame workouts.  Seems like they're just prolonging the issue.

[Sielk]

Predictably, the Buxton haters come crawling out of their holes at the first opportunity again.

Yeah, it's sucks that he is not in the lineup. The 2/3 of the time he is in he is still the best player on the team. 

But apparently, some people would rather have no Buck at all and Celestino the entire year as your starting center fielder. Because I guarantee you, there is not exactly a huge amount of star center fielders out there that are just waiting to sign with the Twins at a price they can afford. 

Which is exactly what Buxton did, so stop hating. 

[cHawk]

Must see TV is right! @Squirrel

[PDX Twin]

3 minutes ago, Sielk said:

Predictably, the Buxton haters come crawling out of their holes at the first opportunity again.

Yeah, it's sucks that he is not in the lineup. The 2/3 of the time he is in he is still the best player on the team. 

But apparently, some people would rather have no Buck at all and Celestino the entire year as your starting center fielder. Because I guarantee you, there is not exactly a huge amount of star center fielders out there that are just waiting to sign with the Twins at a price they can afford. 

Which is exactly what Buxton did, so stop hating. 

Did anyone say that he or she wanted Celestino playing all season? Did anyone say that he or she hated Buxton? That's just silly and none of us say it or believe it.

That said, it would really be nice if he got more games that a well-used relief pitcher.

[stringer bell]

Just now, MadHits said:

I really don't trust the Twins training staff. If Buxton is dealing with the hip flexor issue he had last year, he should be resting on the DL, not trying to work through it during pregame workouts.  Seems like they're just prolonging the issue.

I just don’t know what to think. I am not sure that the idea of DH time and scheduled days off would reduce or eliminate injuries. Here we are a month in and he’s missed a third of the games—knee, hand, hip—suffered from running out a pop fly that turned into a windblown double, getting hit by a pitch and running out a grounder. None of those things occurred from being in center field. 
 

 

[wsnydes]

2 minutes ago, PDX Twin said:

Did anyone say that he or she wanted Celestino playing all season? Did anyone say that he or she hated Buxton? That's just silly and none of us say it or believe it.

That said, it would really be nice if he got more games that a well-used relief pitcher.

Perhaps not, but the only in house CF options were Celestino and Jake Cave.  

[MadHits]

Just now, stringer bell said:

I just don’t know what to think. I am not sure that the idea of DH time and scheduled days off would reduce or eliminate injuries. Here we are a month in and he’s missed a third of the games—knee, hand, hip—suffered from running out a pop fly that turned into a windblown double, getting hit by a pitch and running out a grounder. None of those things occurred from being in center field. 
 

 

Just sprinting out of the box can cause issues with the hip flexor.

[stringer bell]

Here we go! Go Joe. 

[Mill1634]

Don't have a great feeling without Correa or Buxton in the lineup, plus you're already missing Arraez against a very good pitcher.

 

Astros 5, Twins 2

Go Twins!

[wsnydes]

1 minute ago, MadHits said:

Just sprinting out of the box can cause issues with the hip flexor.

So can getting out of bed.

As I see it, they're pretty much damned if they do, damned if they don't.  And either way, not everyone is going to be happy about it.

[Squirrel]

1 minute ago, wsnydes said:

So can getting out of bed.

lol ... so that's my issue!

[RpR]

Those here who often stated they wanted the Twins to be a AAA finishing school are getting their desires; how fate plays that game will soon be seen.

[Mill1634]

Ryan doesn't seem to have his usual fastball command through 15 pitches

[Sielk]

 

3 minutes ago, PDX Twin said:

Did anyone say that he or she wanted Celestino playing all season? Did anyone say that he or she hated Buxton? That's just silly and none of us say it or believe it.

That said, it would really be nice if he got more games that a well-used relief pitcher.

No, but there sure are some comments here that seem to insinuate that they're sick of waiting for Buxton.

And yeah, that would be nice, but what's the alternative to the current situation? Any suggestions?

[wsnydes]

3 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

lol ... so that's my issue!

Now you know!