Phillies Preview: at Minnesota Twins

The Philadelphia Phillies begin a road trip with a three game series against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

There are titanic struggles between a pair of talented goliath’s over the course of a Major League Baseball regular season schedule. This ain’t that.

The visiting Philadelphia Phillies and the hometown Minnesota Twins are two of baseball’s worst teams. They begin a three game series tonight at Target Field in Minneapolis.

As all local fans know, the Fadin’ Phils have now lost seven straight, 10 of 11, and have gone 6-24 over their last 30 games to fall from the top of the division towards the bottom of the game.

The Twinkies have been even worse. Their 21-48 record playing out of the AL Central Division would place them eight games behind the Phils, were the two clubs in the same division. They have lost 14 of their last 20 games.

It would appear that something has to break in this series, but actually it does not. We could actually see a decent series of baseball games, as the two teams appear to be equally inept.

The Twins most consistent offensive performer this season has been a utility player, Eduardo Nunez. He has played equally at 3rd base and shortstop, as well as some 2nd base time. Nunez is hitting for a .321 average with a .351 on-base percentage, has nine home runs, 25 RBI, leads the club with 16 steals, and is tied for the team lead with 33 runs scored.

Brian Dozier is the Twins talented 2nd baseman having a down season. Dozier is hitting just .237 with eight homers, 26 RBI, and is tied with Nunez at 33 runs scored.

Robbie Grossman is getting time in right field and has produced a strong .289/.425/.536 slash line over just 120 plate appearances. Korean import DH Byung-ho Park has banged a dozen longballs, but hasn’t done much else.

Two interesting Twins players are veteran 1st baseman Joe Mauer, who at age 33 is still dangerous. Mauer has a .276/.377/.402 slash line with seven homers and 26 RBI.

The other intriguing player is center fielder Byron Buxton. The top-ranked prospect in the game for a couple of years, Buxton has struggled in proving himself at the Major League Baseball level. Buxton is now hitting just .194/.228/.343 with one homer, four steals, and 11 runs scored over 116 plate appearances.

Paul Molitor, the Hall of Famer who terrorized the 1993 Phillies in the World Series as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, is the manager with his hometown team.

When Molitor makes his calls to the bullpen, there have been mixed results. Former closer Kevin Jepsen was relieved of those duties with a 5.46 ERA, having allowed 38 hits over 28 innings pitched.

Brandon Kintzler is now doing the closing, and has two Saves with a 2.95 ERA and a 12/2 K:BB ratio over 18.1 innings.

The most effective reliever has been 26-year old righty Michael Tonkin, who has a 3.09 ERA and a 41/12 K:BB ratio over 35 innings. Lefty Fernando Abad has also been effective, with a 2.28 ERA and a 23/8 K:BB over 23.2 innings.

Minnesota leads this Interleague Series all-time by an 8-7 margin. Their last meeting was back on June 13th, 2013 at Target Field when Cliff Lee won to raise his record to 8-2 thanks to 8th inning RBI from Michael Young and Jimmy Rollins.

The Twins are finishing up a seven game homestand with this series, while the Phillies are just starting out on a three-city, nine game road trip that will take them out west to San Francisco and Arizona after they leave the Twin Cities.

Next: PHILLIES vs TWINS: PITCHING MATCHUPS

PITCHING MATCHUPS

TUESDAY: Aaron Nola (5-6, 3.51 ERA) vs Tyler Duffey (2-6, 5.56 ERA): Duffey is a 25-year old right-hander who was the Twins 5th round selection in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of Rice University. He had a solid debut a year ago over 10 starts, but has struggled in this, his first full big league season. Duffey has been particularly awful over his last half-dozen starts, allowing 30 earned runs and 51 hits over 32.1 innings with a 26/9 K:BB ratio. Let’s be honest here: if the Phillies bats can’t blow the doors off this guy, they can’t do it against anyone in MLB.

WEDNESDAY: Adam Morgan (1-6, 6.49 ERA) vs Kyle Gibson (0-5, 6.06 ERA): Gibson is a former Top 100 prospect who was the 22nd overall pick in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft by Minnesota. But at age 28 and now in his fourth big league season, he has been nothing more than a .500 pitcher at his best. Gibson is winless on the 2016 campaign, has allowed 37 hits over 32.2 innings, and has just a 17/15 K:BB ratio. Again, a pitcher who has been simply awful, and if the Phillies cannot hit him, who can they hit? On the other hand, Morgan has been just slightly less awful for the Phils, and this may be one of his final chances to demonstrate that he can at least be a serviceable 5th starter for the club.

THURSDAY: Jerad Eickhoff (4-9, 3.49 ERA) vs Tommy Milone (0-1, 5.79 ERA): Milone is a 29-year old lefty who has bounced from Washington to Oakland and now to Minnesota over a six-year MLB career. He gave up 26 hits in 23.1 innings over his first four 2016 outings, including five starts, earning himself a demotion back to AAA Rochester. Back in the minors, Milone has dominated over the past month, earning himself a second chance. This will be his first start in the Majors since April 25th.

Next: PHILLIES KEYS TO VICTORY IN TWIN CITIES

PHILLIES KEYS TO VICTORY

NO MAUER POWER: the Twins don’t usually produce much offense, but a past-his-prime Mauer remains a dangerous hitter who can take over a game on occasion. The 2009 American League Most Valuable Player is a 6x AL All-Star, as well as a 5x Silver Slugger and 3x Gold Glover in his former incarnation as a catcher. He still carries a career .311 batting average, and his current .377 OBP and .780 OPS are his best since the 2013 season.

HIT HORRID PITCHING: this just might be the worst pitching that the Phillies will face all season long. Especially the first two Twins’ starting pitchers, Duffey and Gibson, have been putrid this season. Of course, the Phils’ lineup has been as putrid as they come, so perhaps it’s the Minnesota pitchers who are doing the salivating? Maikel Franco could really use a breakout. It’s going to happen at some point, he is just too talented to struggle this deeply for much longer.

MORGAN’S LAST STAND?: I’ve been calling for Morgan to get shipped back to AAA Lehigh Valley for some time now, and nothing that he has done over his last couple of outings is changing my mind. I simply don’t see anything from him that leads me to believe he can even be a reliable 5th starter type. If there is something in Morgan’s makeup or arsenal that we haven’t been shown yet, well, now is the time. This won’t be a 1929 Yankees Murderer’s Row that he is facing.

Next: PHILLIES TV & RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE

MINNEAPOLIS AREA WEATHER

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 5am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 7am. Cloudy, with a high near 77. Southeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. West wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.

Thursday

Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Next: PHILLIES - TWINS INJURIES / DISABLED LISTS

INJURIES / DISABLED LISTS

Minnesota Twins

Philadelphia Phillies

Next: Phillies Former Pitcher Oswalt Victimized