Twins Visit Reds as Both Squads Are Moving in Different Directions
June has not been kind to the Minnesota Twins. They’ve lost their last four games and eight of the previous ten. So, far in June, Minnesota has as many wins as the Colorado Rockies, a team on pace for one of the worst seasons in baseball history. The problems are easy to see. The pitching has been abysmal, and the Twins lead the MLB in runs allowed in June with 87. Batting production has also tanked in recent weeks. In the last 10 games, the Twins have scored six or more runs twice. Additionally, Minnesota scored no runs off a base hit in the Astros series, with all six runs coming from a homerun.
The first step to changing the team’s momentum must come from the pitching staff, specifically from Wednesday and Thursday’s probable starters, Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack. Both are coming off nightmare starts, allowing a combined 15 earned runs in 8.2 innings of work. It’s been a tough month for Ober. In his two starts, he has more runs allowed than innings pitched, 12-11.2. Before this stretch, Ober had been a consistent figure for the Twins this season, with his ERA under 3.50 at the end of May. As for Paddack, the Astros recorded 12 hits and eight runs in his four innings last Friday. The hit total tied his career-high, given up in a start. It was a disappointing start from Paddack, who hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in a start since May 4th.
The Reds, on the other hand, come into Tuesday night's opener having an excellent June. Cincinnati has won seven of nine games and its last three series, two of which came against other AL Central foes, the Tigers and Guardians. Since June 2nd, the Reds are third in the league in OPS and home runs at .795 and 20. Reds star Elly De La Cruz has been keeping pitchers up at night with a dominating 1.281 OPS in June. Tyler Stephenson has also feasted on his opportunities with runners in scoring position, batting in 11 runs this month. On the mound for the Reds, the Twins will battle Andrew Abbott in Tuesday’s opener. Abbott pitched a complete game shutout in a high-pressure 1-0 win in his last start against the Guardians. He’s also only allowed more than one earned run in a start once in his previous eight appearances. Minnesota will need David Festa to build on his start against Texas, where he went six innings, allowing just two runs to keep up with Abbott.
As for the Twins bats, Willi Castro and Brooks Lee have been doing their part. Both have OPS north of 1.000 over this slump in June, but they need more help up and down the lineup. Carlos Correa, in particular, needs to produce for this Minnesota team to succeed. Yet he’s hitting .217 with a .517 OPS in June. The two teams come into the series having very different months, but with a few key players returning to form, the Twins can still turn around their June in their trip to Cincinnati. The series begins Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. CST.
