After sweeping the Cardinals in St. Louis, the Mariners continue their annual early-season cursèd march through the Midwest with a stopoff in Minnesota, the famous not-roof-havers. The Twins are fresh off their own sweeping, at the hands of former Mariner Ben Williamson and the Tampa Bay Rays. They’ve lost five straight and nine of their last ten, as they’re starting to really look like the team PECOTA predicted for under 80 wins.
The Twins are in rebuild mode, so have already brought up (and sent down) a couple of their MLB-ready pitching prospects, one of whom will make the start on Monday against the Mariners: lefty Connor Prielipp, meaning the Mariners will have to pull out their righty-heavy lineup again in the series opener. Offensively, Minnesota brought up contact-monster infielder Luke Keaschall for a couple months last season and he continues on with the team this season, but has dropped off significantly after a torrid start to his MLB career. The Twins’ other top offensive prospects, Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper, remain at Triple-A for now; Jenkins is working back from a hamstring injury, and Culpepper is still gaining experience at the level. The top prospects are close but still a ways away for Minnesota, so the Mariners will see the group that remained after the Twins stripped down the team last trade deadline (especially bullpen-wise), accented by their modest off-season upgrades rather than a full youth movement.
Byron Buxton is the Twins’ leadoff man and the spiritual heart of this team, although he’s slowing down as the perpetually-injured outfielder moves through his early 30s. He’s followed by Trevor Larnach, whose performance has annoyed Twins fans enough that they were trying to trade him to Seattle this off-season. Josh Bell, one of the aforementioned modest off-season upgrades, usually hits third, and those who have long clamored for Josh Bell, Seattle Mariner, will be pleased to know that he continues to be Josh Bell. We stan a consistent king.
Things get spongy after that, as manager Derek Shelton has tried a few different lineup combinations. Usually one of the Twins’ catchers bats cleanup, usually Ryan Jeffers but switch-hitting Victor Caratini, who can also play first base, can slot in around there too. Then it’s a spin-the-wheel to see what the bottom half of the lineup spits out in what order. Third baseman Royce Lewis will be in there somewhere, along with shortstop Brooks Lee, off to a solid start this year; the outfield is a similar mix of bench players all steadfastly ignoring the “starting jobs this way” sign.
The Twins promoted Connor Prielipp last week to make his major league debut against the Mets. He completed four innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out six. Entering the season, he was ranked as the Twins top pitching prospect and their third overall prospect. A pair of serious elbow injuries — one in college in 2021 and one in the minors in ‘23 — have curtailed his development somewhat, but his raw stuff has continued to look dominant. His best pitch is a superb slider that features tight, downward movement and higher than average velocity. His fastball is fine — it’s the pitch he can command the best at the moment — and his changeup has flashed some promise, though he has trouble with his feel for that offspeed pitch.
Joe Ryan survived the Twins sell off last summer, and with Pablo López sidelined with Tommy John surgery this year, he has become the de facto ace of the pitching staff. His four-seam fastball is one of the best in baseball. He’s able to generate an extremely flat approach angle with the pitch thanks to a good amount of ride and a really low arm angle. His ongoing issue has been trying to figure out the right mix of secondary pitches to pair with his heater. He’s now throwing three different breaking balls and a splitter to keep batters off his fastball.
The Twins acquired Taj Bradley from the Rays last summer in a deal that has turned out to be somewhat of a coup. Back in 2023, Bradley was one of the most highly regarded pitching prospects in baseball, but he struggled to harness his impressive raw stuff across his first three seasons in the big leagues. Tampa Bay cut bait on him, and he continued to struggle in Minnesota after the trade, but he’s managed to put everything together this season. The biggest difference for him has been small adjustments to his cutter and splitter to differentiate those pitches from his fastball. His cutter is breaking glove side a little more and his splitter is diving out of the zone more often. With an extremely high arm slot and an arsenal that heavily relies on vertical movement, those small changes have had a huge impact on his results on the mound.
We’re still not looking at standings, but if we were, we would point out that the Mariners have firmly stepped on the Angels in climbing out of the cellar of the division while leaving Houston buried in the bottom. The A’s and Rangers just spent a series slugging it out against each other, pushing the Athletics to the top of the division for now, but the Mariners lurk just behind those two teams. The A’s welcome in Kansas City this week, while Texas has to cope with the Yankees team that just spent time beating up on the Astros. The Astros, meanwhile, travel to Baltimore, and the Angels make a similar journey to the Mariners, heading north to take on the Chicago White Sox.