Twins vs Cardinals Preview: Will The Twins Stay Competitive?

The St. Louis Cardinals have essentially waived the white flag. They’ve been active in the MLB Trade market but as sellers instead of buyers. As the excitement builds for the upcoming Twins vs Cardinals matchup, fans are eager to see how these trades will impact both teams on the field.

Therefore, the Cardinals must shake up their starting rotation and lineup when the Trade Deadline passes. It’s unclear who will start in any of these games against the Minnesota Twins this week.

Meanwhile, the Twins are a game above .500 heading into this series. Yet, Minnesota is in first place, ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in the MLB’s worst division. You wouldn’t find the Twins in the top 10 of the MLB Power Rankings, but if the season ended today, the Twins would be competing for a World Series in the playoffs.

Will the Twins take advantage of the Cardinals’ struggles this season? Look at our Twins vs Cardinals preview for the three-game interleague series.

Are the Cardinals rebuilding?

The Cardinals have already traded left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery, to the Texas Rangers, along with relief pitcher Chris Stratton.

St. Louis also agreed to a deal to send flame-throwing right-hander Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Cardinals have added solid farm system talent from these trades. But the expectation heading into the MLB season was that the Cardinals would compete for a World Series and buy at the deadline. That wasn’t the case this year.

However, if the Cardinals don’t trade Nolan Arenado, they’re not entirely heading into a rebuild. They’ll have to spend next year to improve, but the Cardinals are still looking to be competitive in 2024.

Why Are The Twins Selling?

The Twins are currently at the top of the AL Central. But they’ve looked in the mirror and ultimately decided they likely don’t have a good enough team to compete in the playoffs.

The Twins already traded Jorge Lopez for Dylan Floro last week. Now, Minnesota seemingly has starters like Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda on the block, along with other big-league bats.

If one of those starters gets traded, the Twins will call up Dallas Keuchel, who has a 1.13 ERA in six starts with Minnesota’s minor league club, St. Paul Saints.

In the MLB, you never know what can happen. We watched the Braves, and Phillies earn World Series spots in different seasons, despite being under .500 at the All-Star Break. We’ll see what direction the Twins end up going at the deadline. But it would be fun to see the Twins try and compete for a World Series this year.

It’ll be Pablo Lopez for Game 1 of the series. Lopez has struck out close to 31% of batters in the last month. He’s also limited walks and kept his wOBA below .300 in the previous 30 days.

Meanwhile, Miles Mikolas is back from his suspension. Mikolas threw at Ian Happ of the Cubs after Happ’s follow-through on a swing hit Willson Contreras in the head. After the incident, Mikolas was suspended for five games but is now the confirmed starter for Game 1. The right-hander will never earn high strikeouts, but he’s been able to limit damage throughout the year and has good ISO and wOBA numbers against both sides of the plate over the last 30 days.

However, the Twins have a lot of left-handed bats that have hit righties for power. Ryan Jeffers, Edouard Julien, Max Kepler, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Donovan Solano, Kyle Farmer, and Byron Buxton all have high ISO and wOBA numbers against righties over the last 30 days.

Oddsmakers view this MLB matchup as a 50/50 game. The Twins are sitting at -112, while the Cardinals are at -108. Meanwhile, the MLB odds for the total are 8.5, with the Over juiced to -115.

Our Twins vs Cardinals preview and coverage will continue for the series’ final two games below.

In the second game, Joe Ryan will get the call. Ryan is a right-hander, allowing a .326 ISO and wOBA of .411 over the last month to other righties. Ryan has earned over 37% of strikeouts in that span, but when teams hit him, he’s getting rocked.

On the other hand, Jack Flaherty is slated to get the start for Game 2. Flaherty has been a centerpiece in trade talks. Therefore, he might not start this game. But for now, he’ll get the ball for Game 2. The right-hander has watched his last 48 lefties hit a .333 ISO and wOBA of .444. However, he’s been dominant against right-handed pitching. Still, the Twins have a lot of lefties that can do severe damage against righties.

The Cardinals righties should smash Ryan, and the Twins lefties should smash Flaherty. My Twins vs Cardinals preview and analysis for Game 2 is that we’ll see plenty of runs in this one.

Time will tell if Sonny Gray will make his next start with the Twins or for another team. But for now, he’s slated to pitch on Thursday. Gray has held teams to a .022 ISO and wOBA of .270. He’s getting a lot of grounders but also walking close to 11% of batters. If he can limit walks, Gray will continue to shine in whatever rotation he’s in.

Meanwhile, Matthew Liberatore is back in the Cardinals’ rotation moving forward. After Jordan Montgomery was traded, the Cardinals will give Liberatore another shot.

He’s allowed a .180 ISO and wOBA of .393 against 158 batters this season. He’s also averaged just 65.67 pitches per game this year. Liberatore’s strikeout numbers are meager, but his walk numbers are coming down.

The Twins’ projected lineup has hit a .281 wOBA against lefties throughout the season. They’ve also earned just 6.5% of walks this year. This is a good time for Liberatore to get another chance in the rotation. Don’t look at all of the baseball scores while Liberatore pitched. This matchup will be a bit different for him.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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