The Diamondbacks will face a tough test when they take on the Minnesota Twins this week. The Twins are hot coming into this series, having won eight of their last 11 games and establishing themselves as a playoff team in the American League.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Arizona has not been great against teams with a winning record this season, with a 13-21 record. Going by series, they have won two series against teams with a winning record while losing five. Their series win in Los Angeles last month was proof they can beat any team in any venue but at the same time, they haven’t shown the consistent ability to beat good teams this season.
The issue will be to keep their offense in check, as the Twins rank seventh in baseball in adjusted OPS+ at 110. Using 200 plate appearances as the minimum playing time, the Twins have six players with an OPS+ of 110 or better. Carlos Correa after a down year has rediscovered his peak form, leading the Twins with 2.6 bWAR and a 144 OPS+. Royce Lewis is healthy again, which will give the Twins some pop in the middle of their lineup. Max Kepler, José Miranda, Willi Castro, Carlos Santana, and Ryan Jeffers are other bats that can create problems for Diamondbacks pitchers. Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson, and Jordan Montgomery will need to bring their A-game to beat them.
If there is one area where the D-backs can exploit the Twins, it is their pitching staff. They’ll face some hot pitchers, with Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods-Richardson coming into series with an ERA of 3.13 and 3.26 respectively. Both pitchers are expected to start in the series. Ryan is very good at limiting traffic on the bases, with only 15 walks on the season and a 0.957 WHIP in 92 innings. He can be a bit homer-prone, averaging 1.4 for every nine innings pitched. If the Diamondbacks can get to the Twins starters early, they have a soft underbelly with their middle relief.
For their own confidence, this is a series Arizona needs to win. While they get a last-place team in Oakland following this series, they have a tough 10-game slate to begin July that could make or break their season. Those will all be against teams with a better record than the Diamondbacks, and a series win against the Twins will be what they need to navigate through that stretch.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
