Padres starting rare three game series in Minnesota with the Twins

The San Diego Padres played three really competitive games against the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend and now they’re in Minnesota for a rare series at Target Field. They haven’t played a game against the Twins in Minneapolis since 2017 (and they lost one of those games 16-0). Carlos Asuaje and Yangervis Solarte were Andy Green’s second and third hitters back then.

Good thing the roster looks totally different.

The Twins roster looks different, too. Byron Buxton was on their roster in 2017 but he isn’t playing center field anymore. Manager Rocco Baldelli has put him as the every day designated hitter to limit the wear and tear on his body. The 29-year-old has played in all but three of Minnesota’s games, posting an .860 OPS with eight home runs (which would be good enough for the Padres team lead).

Carlos Correa is off to a slow start offensively (.193 average) so it looks like the Padres are catching him at the right time. Christian Vazquez, who the Padres wanted in free agency this past winter, currently has a higher average, on-base percentage and OPS+ than Austin Nola. Vazquez’s OPS+ is 36% below league average so that shows how bad Nola has been at the plate this year. We’ll see if Brett Sullivan ends up getting more starts over the next week.

Minnesota—just like San Diego—is coming off of a series loss to a division rival. They dropped two out of three to the Cleveland Guardians before having a day off yesterday. The Padres are 3-3 to kick off the month of May.

Below are the scheduled pitching matchups and game times for this series. Sonny Gray (1.35 ERA) won’t start against the Friars.

Today: Michael Wacha (SD) vs. Louie Varland (MIN)

First Pitch: 4:40 pm PT, Bally Sports San Diego, 97.3 The Fan

Wacha’s last outing (May 2): 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Varland’s last outing (May 3): 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Wednesday: Seth Lugo (SD) vs. Pablo Lopez (MIN)

First Pitch: 4:40 pm PT, Bally Sports San Diego, 97.3 The Fan

Lugo’s last outing (May 3): 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Lopez’s last outing (May 4): 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 K

Thursday: Yu Darvish (SD) vs. Bailey Ober (MIN)

First Pitch: 10:10 am PT, Bally Sports San Diego, 97.3 The Fan

Darvish’s last outing (May 5): 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K

Ober’s last outing (May 5): 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K