The Red Sox will play a tight schedule against the Minnesota Twins
Game on in Minnesota! The Boston Red Sox are expected to play the Minnesota Twins this afternoon.
The first game of the series was abruptly postponed on Monday minutes before the teams were scheduled to take the field. The Twins released a statement explaining that the decision was made out of respect for the tragic events that occurred the previous night in Brooklyn Center, referring to the police officer who shot and killed a 20-year old Black man named Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.
The Twins plan to begin their series with the Red Sox on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. EST. Monday’s game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
Hearing #MNTwins and #RedSox are on for 1 pm today and yesterday’s game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 13, 2021
This series will wrap up on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. EST. That means the teams will begin all four games of this series within a span of 48 hours. It’s a tight schedule, especially when you consider the quick turnaround between the seven-inning doubleheader games and the series finale on Thursday afternoon.
That’s assume the weather cooperates enough to avoid any additional postponements. It’s barely above freezing in Minnesota this morning with temperatures in the mid-30s and a chance for snow showers during the game. We saw the Detroit Tigers host a game this season in the snow so the Red Sox and Twins will presumably make every effort to push through the weather concerns but it’s hardly ideal conditions.
The revised schedule complicates the Red Sox rotation. Martin Perez will take the mound for today’s game to open the series, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. Nathan Eovaldi will start the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader followed by Eduardo Rodriguez in Game 2. Garrett Richards will finish the series on Thursday.
Richards was originally slated to open the series at Fenway Park against the Chicago White Sox but that spot will presumably be taken by Nick Pivetta, who last pitched on Sunday so he’ll be ready to go on five days rest.
That leaves Saturday’s game an open question. Turning the rotation back over to Perez probably isn’t an option since he’ll only have had three days of rest after starting on Tuesday. The Red Sox are going to need a spot starter.
This could lead to the return of Tanner Houck, who shined in his lone start this season but was optioned a week ago to make room on the roster for Rodriguez. Houck must remain in the minors for 10 days but would be eligible for a call up by Saturday.
While the Red Sox want Houck to develop more in Triple-A, his demotion was primarily based on front office politics rather than performance. Boston needed to clear a spot in the rotation and Houck still has minor league options, whereas replacing another pitcher from their staff could result in the organization losing that player. Houck is deserving of another shot in the rotation so the only hesitation the Red Sox might have in calling him up would be if they want to avoid wasting one of his minor league options on what might only be one appearance.
The Red Sox will be able to add a 27th player to the active roster for tomorrow’s doubleheader. It won’t be Houck since he’s not eligible yet but it’s likely to be a pitcher to provide bullpen depth. Eduard Bazardo is a rumored candidate to make his major league debut but the team will probably wait until after today’s game to finalize any decisions.
The Red Sox are rolling into this series looking to extend their MLB-high six-game winning streak. Hopefully, the unexpected off day on Monday hasn’t stalled their momentum. The condensed schedule for this series isn’t helping but the Twins are dealing with the same dilemmas. From a fan perspective, we’re being treated to a lot of baseball over the next 48 hours. It’s game on today and let’s play two tomorrow!