The upstart Minnesota Twins visit the New York Mets for a two-game series Tuesday-Wednesday, and as bad luck would have it, they’re scheduled to face two of Major League Baseball’s best starting pitchers.
On Tuesday (first pitch at 6:10 p.m.), the Twins will send out a lineup against Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom. Then on Wednesday (another 6:10 p.m. start), the Twins face right-hander Noah “Thor” Syndergaard.
In two starts this season, deGrom is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and has 24 strikeouts in 13 innings. He won the National League Cy Young Award last season when he posted the sixth-lowest ERA (1.70) since the pitcher’s mound was lowered to its current height in 1969.
The 6-foot-4 flamethrower set a MLB record with 24 straight quality starts and 29 consecutive starts allowing three runs or fewer. He struck out 269 batters to just 46 walks in 217 innings.
Syndergaard, an imposing man who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 240 pounds, brings the heat with a 100 mph fastball, not to mention an effective arsenal that includes a changeup, sinker, slider and curveball.
Despite injuries limiting his dominance last season, Syndergaard averaged 98.2 mph on his fastball in 2018, according to FanGraphs, a 97.3 mph sinker and a knee-buckling 82.3 mph curveball to keep hitters off-balance.
Tuesday’s game is in danger of dealing with some rain as the forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in New York after 5 p.m. If the game gets postponed it might be a blessing in disguise to avoid deGrom, but if the game gets played, the Twins will have their work cut out for them.
