The Twins start an extremely important four-game series with the Guardians this Friday. They start the series 3 1/2 games back of Cleveland for the AL Central lead, but the Guardians have dropped five straight and have looked very catchable since the All-Star break. The Twins have issues of their own, though, and started the day with some rough news regarding two key players.
Joe Ryan left Wednesday’s game after just two innings with what the team called “right triceps tightness.” Initially, they thought he had avoided anything major, but unfortunately, he’ll miss more time than they expected.
On the season, Ryan has gone just 7-7, but has a 3.60 ERA and 3.45 FIP. He has been very consistent with 13 quality starts in his 23 games and he’s averaged 5.9 innings per start, always helping the bullpen get a bit of a breather. His absence will be a huge loss for the Twins, who are already thin in the starting rotation. Hopefully, he’ll be able to return for the postseason if the Twins make it, but that even seems like it’s in doubt after this injury.
He’s not the only player landing on IL, either. Rookie Brooks Lee will also head to the sideline with a shoulder injury.
Lee was actually in the initial lineup for Friday afternoon’s game against the Guardians, but will be replaced by Farmer, who is coming off the IL. For DFS, Game 1 is available for single-game Showdown contests including the MLB Showdown $30K Relay Throw. Farmer is only $3,000 and makes an interesting value option even though he’s batting ninth against Guardians starter Joey Cantillo ($10,000). The Twins are -166 on the moneyline in Game 1 behind Bailey Ober ($11,800).
Before hitting the IL, the 23-year-old Lee had been having a strong start to his MLB career, hitting .253 with two homers and two stolen bases over his first 26 games. The Twins haven’t given any details about Lee’s injury or how long he’ll be out, but he is an upgrade over Farmer when available.
Despite all their injury woes, the Twins are still -525 to make the playoffs, and +220 to win the AL Central behind just Guardians (-160). This weekend’s series will go a long way to establishing how much of a race we’ll have over the remainder of the season since, depending on the outcome, the Twins could be anywhere from 1/2 game in front or 7 1/2 games back by Sunday night.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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