A three-game road trip.
After six games on the road and three games at home, the Red Sox find themselves traveling again. Luckily the flight to Minneapolis is a quick one! For three games Boston will play the Minnesota Twins before heading back East for their normal Thursday off-day, which also happens to be trade deadline day.
The Twins are currently in fourth place in the AL Central at 50-55. However, after the first place Detroit Tigers, the next three teams are clumped together. The Cleveland Guardians sit at 52-53 and the Kansas City Royals at 52-53. There are just two games separating second and fourth in the Central right now. Will the Guardians, Royals, or Twins be buyers of sellers? Whoever is a buyer might just leap into second place. The problem is: what are you buying for? Cleveland is the closest to a Wild Card at 3.5 games behind. The 51-55 Los Angeles Angels are still “in it.” The Rangers are back in it at the moment. The Tampa Bay Rays are even closer than Cleveland at 3.0 games. It’s a crowded field.
Fresh off facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs, Boston is facing their weakest opponent since the All Star break. Simeon Woods-Richardson has made 16 starts and just three went for more than 5.0 innings. Chris Paddack hasn’t ever really been the same since his rookie year back in 2019 with the Padres. The strikeouts have plummeted. It’s possible that even with Fitts, Giolito, and Bello the Sox have the starting pitching advantage in each game.
The bad news here is the Twins bullpen is stacked. If they don’t hit the starters in this series there may not be many innings where a late-game comeback is possible. Closer Jhoan Durán and top setup men Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Danny Coulombe have shut down teams in the late innings.
On the position player side, Byron Buxton is doing everything he ever promised. 23 homers, 17 steals, 4 triples, 14 doubles. A Home Run Derby appearance.
Royce Lewis has broken his cycle of “excellent when healthy. This year he’s been relatively healthy, except that he’s not performing at the high bar he set for himself.
Harrison Bader has been the most productive non-Buxton bat, slashing .250/.332/.435 while attracting trade rumors. But again the Twins aren’t out of this.
Of their other top starters (Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober) only Ryan is not currently on the IL. He pitched on Saturday so he probably isn’t making the Wednesday start. Ober might make his next start in the majors — he had a minor league rehab start on Friday so he’d be in line. He’s had a rough 2025 though with a 5.28/5.29 ERA/FIP in 92 innings before hitting the IL.
For those saying “oh the Red Sox beat the Nationals big deal,” note that the Twins lost two out of three to Washington. So beat up the bad teams, don’t get swept, and win series.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Monday July 28: Richard Fitts (4.86 ERA / 5.49 FIP) vs. Simeon Woods-Richardson (4.14 ERA / 4.38 FIP)
Tuesday July 29: Lucas Giolito (3.97 ERA / 5.20 FIP) vs. Chris Paddack (4.95 ERA / 4.39 FIP)
Wednesday July 30: Brayan Bello (3.32 ERA / 3.69 FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA / — FIP)
When/Where to Watch
Monday July 28: 7:40 PM ET on NESN
Tuesday July 29: 7:40 PM ET on NESN
Wednesday July 30: 1:10 PM ET on ESPN