Through the uncertainty of this season, it seemed like MLB may never get here, but the 2020 postseason has arrived. The postseason is a bit different this year, and the Wild Card Series has been added to create even more excitement. For the Houston Astros, their Wild Card Series will come against the Minnesota Twins. The three-seed Twins will host the six-seed Astros beginning Tuesday, September 29. There are a lot of interesting aspects of this series. Here is a comparison and preview of the Astros Vs Twins.
Offensive Comparison
Going into 2020, both offenses were supposed to be among the best in the AL. That was not how it turned out. Neither lineups were as productive as the year before. Both teams were in the middle of the pack in terms of runs scored this year. Despite finishing with 91 home runs, third in the AL, the Twins weren’t really the Bomba Squad they were a year ago. They hit a lot of home runs, but didn’t get the big hits like they did in 2019. This is why they were tenth in the AL in runs scored, with 269. All this being said, Minnesota dealt with a lot of injuries. Multiple stars missed big chunks of time such as Josh Donaldson and Luis Arraez. In fact, on the injury front, the Twins and Astros were very similar.
Injuries ravaged Houston’s lineup as well. Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Michael Brantley all spent time on the Injured List, which contributed to the team’s struggles on offense. Overall, the lineup just underachieved. After being among the league’s best in most categories last year, they were middle of the pack in those same categories this year. They were tenth in batting average at .240 as well as home runs with 69. In runs scored, they were seventh, with 279. If it wasn’t for a breakout season from Kyle Tucker, there’s no telling how the season could have turned out. The 23 year old led the team in hits, triples, RBI, and stolen bases.
Pitching Comparison
The Twins’ pitching was not supposed to be the strength of the team, but that ended up being the case. They ended up with the third-best team ERA in the AL, with a 3.58 ERA. Led by Kenta Maeda with a 2.70 ERA and 10.8 K/9, the pitching staff defied the doubters. Pitchers who can get strikeouts are very important in the postseason, and the team was fourth in the AL, with 535. This is a pitching staff that didn’t deal with many baserunners, as their 1.20 WHIP was second in the AL.
Despite losing Gerrit Cole to free agency, Astros pitching was still supposed to be strong. Unfortunately, the staff was even more injury-stricken than the offense. Justin Verlander pitched one start before being shut down. Roberto Osuna had just four appearances before he was shut down. The majority of the veteran pitchers hit the Injured List for long stretches of time. There were numerous pitchers who made their MLB debut for the team, and all in all, they were very solid. The 4.31 team ERA was seventh in the AL, and the 526 strikeouts were sixth.
Pitching Matchups
Game One will feature a pair of aces in Zack Greinke for Houston and Maeda for Minnesota. Both have plenty of postseason experience. For Greinke, it is not great: 92 innings with a 4.21 ERA. He pitched well in the 2019 World Series, giving up three runs in 11 innings. He will look to bring that success to Tuesday’s start. Maeda has 32 2/3 innings pitched with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched to the tune of a 3.31 ERA. However, all but three of his 24 appearances are out of the bullpen. In his three starts, he went 10 2/3 innings and gave up eight runs.
The Game Two starter for the Astros has yet to be decided, but Jose Berrios will be the man for the Twins. The young righty has just two postseason appearances, giving up six runs, four earned in seven innings. As for the Astros, the best options would be Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, or Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers has the most postseason experience with 32 innings, posting a 2.53 ERA in those innings. In fact, Urquidy is the only other one with any postseason experience, giving up one run in ten innings in 2019.
If there is a Game three, once again the Astros have not announced who will pitch that game, but Michael Pineda will pitch for the Twins. Pineda has never pitched in the postseason, and has a 4.02 ERA in 852 2/3 career innings. The Twins had the better regular season overall, but the Astros have that pedigree as a team who has been there before. Needless to say, this Wild Card Series will be fascinating.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
