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Minnesota Twins series preview: The wood, the bad, and the ugly

The World Champs head north to face the worst team in the American League.

Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Just a few days removed from the last time they played the Minnesota Twins, the World Champion Kansas City Royals will play host to the cellar dwellers of the American League Central. This four-game tilt against the owners of the worst record in the A.L. could allow the Royals to get back into the playoff hunt as they attempt to move past the current .500 record that they sport. As the Twins and Royals just played last weekend, there isn't much to talk about this time around.

*All stats courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference

Pitching match-ups

Game One - Friday, 7:10 PM CDT

Pitcher G IP K BB ERA FIP xFIP SIERA fWAR rWAR
Yordano Ventura 22 126.0 92 54 4.64 4.80 4.70 4.83 0.8 0.9
Kyle Gibson 15 87.0 61 30 4.86 4.62 4.31 4.52 0.6 0.3

Game Two - Saturday, 6:10 PM CDT

Pitcher G IP K BB ERA FIP xFIP SIERA fWAR rWAR
Dillon Gee 23 81.1 64 28 4.54 5.13 4.76 4.44 -0.2 0.3
Tyler Duffey 19 101.2 84 24 5.93 4.60 3.83 3.99 0.8 -0.7

Game Three - Sunday, 1:10 PM CDT

Pitcher G IP K BB ERA FIP xFIP SIERA fWAR rWAR
Edinson Volquez 24 141.1 104 53 5.03 4.36 4.40 4.52 1.4 0.1
Hector Santiago (L) 24 131.0 115 60 4.47 5.12 5.04 4.73 0.4 0.7

The Batsmen

Name Pos PA HR R RBI SB BA OBP SLG wOBA wRC+ fWAR rWAR
Brian Dozier 2B 474 23 65 65 8 .261 .335 .507 .355 123 3.1 3.6
Joe Mauer (L) 1B 457 9 57 42 2 .279 .381 .410 .341 113 1.5 2.6
Max Kepler (L) RF 267 15 39 49 4 .259 .342 .526 .363 128 1.7 2.8
Miguel Sano DH 351 19 43 48 1 .249 .342 .485 .353 122 1.6 0.8
Trevor Plouffe 3B 239 7 23 27 1 .250 .286 .393 .292 79 -0.3 -0.1
Eddie Rosario (L) CF 235 7 36 25 4 .274 .296 .444 .311 93 0.9 0.8
Jorge Polanco (S) SS 76 1 10 10 2 .313 .365 .507 .369 133 0.9 1.1
Kurt Suzuki C 278 6 28 36 0 .283 .325 .434 .327 103 0.9 0.9
Danny Santana (S) LF 221 2 28 14 12 .261 .300 .357 .287 76 -0.1 -0.6
Bench Pos PA HR R RBI SB BA OBP SLG wOBA wRC+ fWAR rWAR
Juan Centeno (L) C 123 2 10 17 0 .267 .303 .397 .303 87 0.3 0.5
Robbie Grossman (S) OF 263 7 36 25 1 .266 .392 .436 .364 129 0.7 0.4
Eduardo Escobar (S) IF 252 5 24 29 1 .257 .283 .386 .286 75 0.0 -0.1
Kennys Vargas (S) 1B 89 4 16 10 0 .278 .404 .569 .410 160 0.8 1.0

Stats through Tuesday, August 16

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