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Two teams sit atop respective central divisions, both composed of a patchwork of superstars and key role players. With familiar faces and up-and-coming all-stars, it's a fun series for fans to familiarize themselves with players both home and away. Few things were nearly unanimous in the pre-season predictions, but among them was which team perched atop the AL Central was selected by nearly everyone to win the division. Appropriately black and white. Stated plainly. The consensus pick: the Chicago White Sox. The halfway point of the 2022 has proven the paradoxical axiom of baseball, which is that despite every metric and system built to hone prediction, there are no truths in this wild and beautiful game. We've asked Tom Ciaccio, who writes up series previews for our sister site, Brewer Fanatic, to give us a preview of the two-game Brewers series. Meanwhile, we had John Bonnes do the same over on our sister site. If you would like to see that, click here. Despite their differences, these fan bases have at least one thing in common: they both really dislike the respective Chicago-based teams. Sitting in sole possession of both first place and the only winning record in the division are the Minnesota Twins. Contending against them in a brief two-game series is the team leading the other league’s central division, the Milwaukee Brewers. Both teams have solidified themselves as tough customers built on atypical means. The Brewers strength is run prevention led by a multi-ace rotation, where the Twins are arguably more well-rounded, anchored by elite players like Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa and supplemented by revitalized talents like Sonny Gray and Chris Archer. The two-game interleague matchup often evokes a lower stakes and slightly deflated feeling, but these two teams are charismatic baseball enigmas who are holding fast atop their divisions. While attention normally gravitates toward the titans on the coasts, they should be fixed on the flyovers for this intriguing series. Let’s check out the match-ups. Tuesday July 12th Jason Alexander (2-1 4.75 ERA) Josh Winder (4-2 3.12 ERA) 29-year-old rookie Jason Alexander has had an unorthodox path to the bigs and is now enduring a fittingly wonky beginning of his career. After a decent enough job starting as a fill-in piece for a banged up Brewers rotation he was shifted back to the bullpen. Working in relief has not been a strong spot for Alexander in his brief sample, giving up three earned runs in 2.1 innings over two showings. With Adrian Houser going down with an elbow injury, Alexander will have another chance to show what he can do on the mound. One patchwork rookie starter deserves another, and addressing the same dearth of seasoned starting pitchers is Josh Winder . Unlike the Brewers, the Twins didn’t start the season from a particularly enviable level of depth. That Winder would end up in the rotation isn’t particularly surprising, but the measure of his success thus far might be. In 40 innings pitched he’s managed a 3.12 ERA, and even with his FIP almost a full point higher (4.09 to be precise), it still can’t be argued that Winder’s sample to this point is an impressive one. Wednesday July 13th Aaron Ashby (2-6 4.52 ERA) Joe Ryan (6-3 3.09 ERA) After a promising beginning to his 2022 campaign, Aaron Ashby hit a long skid of middling to bad performances before finally notching another win against the Pirates on Friday. Notching a W against the lowly Pirates is a fraught distinction unto itself, and that Ashby still surrendered two runs over five IP in this start doesn’t alleviate concerns surrounding his trajectory. This all being said, the resume for Ashby gives a lot of reason to believe. Capitalizing on a five pitch repertoire, Ashby has managed an astonishing 10.75 K/9. The issue lies in that when Ashby isn’t fooling hitters, he’s getting hit hard by them. If he’s going to succeed against a savvy hitting Twins team, he’ll need to be strategic, deliberate and economical. A cliche in the baseball world repeated so enthusiastically that it’s nearly axiom-status is that when the Rays make a trade, the Rays win that trade. It’s still early in his career, but 26-year-old righty Joe Ryan is looking to break that mold. Shipped over to Minnesota with prospect Drew Strotman for Nelson Cruz and Calvin Faucher, Ryan has put together a very solid rookie campaign. In just under a hundred combined IP, Ryan has authored a 3.35 ERA with a FIP of 3.86, corroborating the potential of nascent excellence. Players To Watch Josh Hader : In the event that the Brewers have a late game lead and their feared closer emerges from the pen, it may not spell certain doom for the Twinkies. In Hader-adjusted terms, the All-Star and arguably best closer in baseball has been having a rough go of it. In his latest appearance, Hader gave up two hits and a walk and incurred an earned run against the Pirates in what would ultimately be a successful save. In the series prior to that one, Seiya Suzuki walked off against Hader on an inside-the-park home run. Adding an extra level of mystique to Hader is that there are rumors that the Brewers are at the very least willing to hear offers for the now four-time All-Star. Keston Hiura : After a promising 2019 rookie campaign, Hiura’s value as a player slipped the following year and disintegrated into unsustainability after that. At the end of his 2021 season, Hiura had an abysmal WOBA of .251, and with negative UZR, it almost felt time to ask if the once promising rookie would ever be able to stay in the bigs. As of late, the sudden utility product has found new value for the Brewers. Moving from second to left field, Hiura has flashed some impressive leather. At the plate, the strikeouts are worse than they’ve ever been, but the OPS+ for 2022 is 127, noteworthy because it’s 22 points above his career average. If Hiura can find his form again, he will be a pivotal difference maker for the Brewers this year and for years to come. Luis Arraez : When the Twins extended Buxton and signed Correa, it probably wouldn’t be predicted that by the middle of the 2022 season Twins second basemen Arraez would lead the team in WAR. Not only that, but he’s leading the majors in batting average, adding to the motif that the Twins are unpredictable and, as importantly, extremely fun. Arraez’ crescendo towards excellence doesn’t look like a fluke, and while he’s no stranger to Twins fans, it’s worth appreciating the development of a potential superstar. Predictions Assessing the teams as a whole would make things feel a lot more competitive, but the fact that the Twins are hosting the Brewers right as the two biggest question marks in their rotation are set to pitch doesn’t bode well for the Crew. I think the Twins grab at least one win here, but a sweep in the brief series feels perfectly reasonable. View full article