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Tonight, Rich Hill will take the ball for the Minnesota Twins and he’s being activated off the Injured List to do so. It will be his second start for Minnesota, and the first since July 29. He landed on the Injured List due to shoulder fatigue, and a night after Kenta Maeda was three outs from a no-hitter, Hill will look to provide an encore.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP MIN 4, MIL 3: Kenta Maeda Carries No-No Into 9th Inning; Twins Win In Extras Today: Milwaukee @ Minnesota, 7:10 PM CT Betting Lines: Minnesota -160, O/U 9.5 Twins Starter: Rich Hill, LHP 1-0 (0.00 ERA) In his lone start of 2020 Hill was nothing short of spectacular. He cruised through five innings of work against a good St. Louis Cardinals squad. Throwing 68 pitches, he recorded two strikeouts while walking one and allowing just two hits. Coincidentally that would be the final game for the Cardinals until just a few days ago, and Hill himself is just making a return to the mound tonight. Despite having a bottom of the barrel velocity on his fastball, Hill does everything else at an elite level. Because of his ability to spin the bender, Hill has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for quite some time. Yes, he’s 40 years old, and yes, he’s often injured, but when a team has had him on the bump, they can feel pretty confident about their chances. Download attachment: Hill.PNG Shoulder injuries are certainly tricky for pitchers, and while fatigue isn’t something requiring a procedure, it will be interesting to see what kind of runway Wes Johnson and Rocco Baldelli give him tonight. Minnesota’s bullpen was relatively taxed with the extra-innings affair last night, so getting at least five should be a must. Brewers Starter: Brett Anderson, LHP (0-2, 4.91 ERA) Much like his fellow starter, Anderson finds himself shelved quite often. Before pitching 176 innings for the Athletics in 2019, the Brewers left last topped 80 innings during a season back in 2015. Unlike Hill, Anderson’s results haven’t been nearly as good when he’s out there. At his best Anderson is a control guy that keeps the ball within the strike zone and within the yard. When he gets burned, it’s because the lack of strikeout stuff combined with the propensity for multi-hit games turns into deficits too stark to overcome. Download attachment: Anderson.PNG Anderson has yet to pitch more the one out into the fifth this season for Milwaukee, and he’s given up two earned runs in each of his three starts. He’s given up a single homer in each of the last two outings, and opponents have generated at least four hits off of him in each of his three turns. Lineup: Here's how the bullpen is looking heading into tonight's game: Download attachment: bullpen.png Other Notes: Barring any negative, last-minute, developments, today is the first day since July 26 (Opening Weekend) that Major League Baseball will not be dealing with a COVID-19 related postponement.Pretty exciting prospect matchup between the White Sox and Tigers tonight as Dane Dunning and Casey Mize will both be making their MLB Debuts.Around the AL Central:CLE 6, PIT 3 (F/10) CWS 10, DET 4 MIN 16-8 (+39 run differential) CLE 14-9 (+23) CWS 13-11 (+8) DET 9-12 (-23) KCR 9-14 (-10) Click here to view the article

The annual MLB Winter Meetings kick off in San Diego on Monday, launching what should be a very active week for signings and trades around the league. By all accounts, Terry Ryan has one clear focus heading into this important offseason stretch: pitching.As discussed on Friday, the Twins have no fewer than seven starters in the mix who arguably deserve a shot, creating an interesting dynamic as they seek to address the club's most problematic unit. La Velle E. Neal III reports that the team has interest in bringing back Francisco Liriano, who is returning to free agency after an excellent two-year run in Pittsburgh. That's a reunion I could get behind, in principle. He's a strikeout machine, something that this absurdly contact-heavy rotation could sorely use. He's always got that front-end potential and has displayed it frequently over these last couple of seasons. But even as a huge Liriano backer, I'd be a little squeamish about giving up a second-round draft pick in addition to guaranteeing him big money on a multi-year deal. The Twins are as familiar as anyone with the lefty's talent, but they're also all too familiar with what happens when he goes off the rails. Are they really willing to take that plunge one year after getting burned on the Ricky Nolasco signing? I just can't see it. But I'm a lot more intrigued by another pitcher who is represented by the same agency. According to Neal, the Twins are meeting with Brett Anderson's agent on Monday. To me, he's the most perfect fit on the market. He won't require a long commitment, and he's got huge ability. Plus, he's only 26, so if he can turn a corner with his health, maybe they can find a way to work him into the long-term plans. Meanwhile, Charley Walters wrote in the Pioneer Press that the Twins are interested in Justin Masterson, and that they'll make their push for him this week. Walters suggests that the team sees Masterson -- who's coming off a rough season -- in the same light they did Phil Hughes a year ago. That's a parallel that's been drawn here before, as well. Masterson makes a lot of sense as a target. He'll probably only require a one-year deal, and he's more reliable to deliver innings than someone like Anderson. His peripherals hint that fast improvement is in store after an ugly 2014 campaign. But on that note, it's a little hard to sell a guy who posted a 5.88 ERA last year as a shiny rotation upgrade, and signing Masterson would likely push the Twins' payroll close to $100 million. For what it's worth, Darren Wolfson tweeted this weekend that "every sign has Masterson landing elsewhere," adding that the Twins have no meetings set up with him at the Winter Meetings. Stay tuned this week and we'll keep you apprised on any developments relating to these story lines, as well as any others that emerge. Click here to view the article

I feel like I've written this article before. Maybe that's because I have. A year ago, Brett Anderson looked like a good target for the Twins to pursue. This time around, because of his circumstances -- and the team's -- he seems like an even more logical fit. Will Terry Ryan feel the same way? And if so, what will it cost to bring in the left-hander?Last offseason, Anderson was a known trade candidate, with just one guaranteed season remaining on his contract and Oakland's rotation flush with young talent. Given his age, his previous success and his depressed value coming off a bad season, he had the makings of a great buy-low candidate with big upside. Ultimately, it was another pitching-needy team that chose to take the gamble on Anderson, as the Rockies shipped out a couple of prospects in December to bring him aboard. That move didn't really pan out for Colorado. Once again, the oft-injured hurler could not stay healthy. He made only eight starts, finishing with 43 1/3 total innings. A fractured finger cost him most of the first half, and a bulging disc in his back that required surgery cost him most of the second. It was the fifth straight year in which health issues prevented Anderson from being able to get in anywhere close to a full season's work. He hasn't completed even 45 innings in any of the past three years. The overwhelming durability concerns caused the Rockies to opt out of his 2015 option, making him a free agent, and he might have trouble finding a guaranteed contract. Now is the perfect time for a savvy GM to strike, and the Twins are in a better position than perhaps any other club to do so. Obviously, Minnesota needs pitching help about as badly as anyone. But they also have considerable depth in the rotation, with Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson, Trevor May, Alex Meyer, Tommy Milone, Mike Pelfrey and others all potentially in the mix. It might not be great quality of depth, but you can argue that all those guys deserve a chance. The Twins can afford to gamble on an injury risk like Anderson because if he gets hurt once again, they have viable options to fall back on. It's also an attractive situation for the player. Whereas a contending team would want to have strong contingency plans in place -- and thus, a higher barrier of entry -- the lefty should have no trouble locking up a spot in this rotation as long as he's healthy and effective in spring training. From a pure talent perspective, he would be arguably the best starter on the roster. Beyond the mutually beneficial circumstances in place, there are three key reasons I believe Anderson makes a ton of sense for Ryan and the Twins. He's still really young. Hughes was 27 when the Twins signed him last year -- uncommonly young for a free agent. Anderson doesn't turn 27 until February, so he's still right in the midst of his physical prime. And the silver lining in all the injuries and setbacks is that his arm is still pretty fresh. It's rare to find a starting pitcher who's been in the majors for six years and has thrown fewer than 500 innings. He doesn't have chronic arm injuries. He has already undergone Tommy John surgery and hasn't had any elbow issues since. The first injury that cost him several months this year was a broken finger suffered when he got hit by a pitch while batting -- total freak incident and not a long-term concern. The bulging disc that ended his season is more worrisome, as he battled low back soreness late in 2013 as well, but his August surgery hopefully resolved the problem. He should be 100 percent in March. As far as rehab projects go, Anderson's a much safer bet than someone like Josh Johnson or Chad Billingsley, both of whom are coming back from arm operations. He's still got it. Although his 2014 campaign did nothing to reverse his rep for being fragile, Anderson did show something while on the mound. In an admittedly small sample size, the lefty posted a 2.91 ERA and 2.99 FIP, and did so while making half his starts at Coors Field. He looked very much like the guy who had emerged as one of the best young pitchers in the game years earlier. Anderson is the rare example of a young pitcher who could be signed to a low-money, low-years deal while offering the real potential to be a No. 2 or No. 3 type in the rotation. Those opportunities don't come along very often and the Twins should be looking to pounce on this one if they can. His history of health problems is daunting, but one of these years Anderson is going to stay on the field and when he does I suspect that the team that employs him will benefit greatly. No club could use that boost more than the Twins. Click here to view the article