The Twins are under .500, but just one game out of a playoff spot (talk about missed opportunities for the Royals if they were halfway decent!) That was enough for them to be buyers at the trade deadline. They weren’t super aggressive, but they did add a starting pitcher with a good track record who has struggled this year in Dean Kremer, and bolstered their bullpen with the additions of A.J. Minter and Jeff Hoffman. The Royals will be facing an improved pitching staff than the one that took two
out of three from them in Minnesota last week.
Minnesota Twins (56-57) vs. Kansas City Royals (46-67) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Twins: 4.71 runs scored/game (9th in MLB), 3.93 runs allowed/game (4th)
Royals: 4.13 runs scored/game (25th), 5.10 runs allowed/game (27th)
The Twins are without Byron Buxton, who went back on the Injured List with a hip injury. Luke Keaschall will move over to centerfield to take his place.
Joe Ryan was thought to be a trade candidate, but the Twins insisted they would be buyers, putting those rumors to rest. Instead, he will start against the Royals, a team he has historically dominated – he is 8-3 with a 2.75 ERA in 14 career starts. Randy Dobnak will face his former team for the second time in a week – he tossed seven shutout innings against them in his last start. Kremer will make his first start in a Twins uniform on Wednesday. He had a 4.19 ERA and was worth 2.24 rWAR last year with Baltimore, but missed the first three months of this season with a quad injury. Michael Wacha was not dealt at the trade deadline. He has given up just four runs in 19 innings over his last three starts.
Jeff Hoffman will likely take over closing duties after being acquired from Toronto. He has mostly been a setup man this year after losing his closer’s role, but he had 33 saves for the pennant-winning Blue Jays last year.
The Royals have won six of ten from the Twins this year. But they looked lifeless at times on the most recent road trip, and continue to be decimated by injuries. Minnesota is still trying to make a push for the postseason, while the Royals are playing out the string, making this a matchup between two teams headed in very different directions.
