Opening Day FAQ: Twins vs. White Sox

July 23rd, 2020

The Twins and White Sox open the 2020 season Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field with the same American League Central title goal as their initial target. But their respective expectations sit at slightly different levels.

After winning 101 games and launching a Major League-best 307 home runs en route to a 2019 division championship, Minnesota remains the favorite even in this season reduced to 60 games by the coronavirus pandemic. The White Sox have not been to the playoffs since 2008 and have not been over .500 since 2012, losing a combined 284 games over the past three years. But the talented young White Sox core put together during three years of rebuilding, coupled with key free-agent additions, has placed the South Siders much closer to the top of the division than the rebuilding Tigers and Royals at the bottom.

In fact, the White Sox have somewhat followed a plan set forth last year by the Twins in adding veteran power and proven winners such as catcher Yasmani Grandal, designated hitter Edwin Encarnación, right fielder Nomar Mazara, left-handed starters Dallas Keuchel and Gio González and reliever Steve Cishek. The White Sox have 15 of their first 19 games against the American League Central and follow this three-game home series with an eight-game road trip. But these two teams won’t meet again until Aug. 31.

When is the game and how can I watch it?
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT on Friday. The game will be televised on both Fox Sports North and NBC Sports Chicago, and there will be radio broadcasts on WCCO 830, TIBN, The Wolf 102.9 FM, twinsbeisbol.com, WGN 720 and WRTO 1200.

The starting lineups
Twins: Minnesota might not have clarity in its lineup picture until early Friday due to the uncertainty around the conditions of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sanó, both of whom remain in question for Opening Day. Buxton was confident that he would be ready after he sustained a left mid-foot sprain on July 13, but the Twins have refrained from sharing that full optimism. Sanó is physically ready for play following his COVID-19 quarantine, but his eye at the plate has yet to catch up. If Buxton isn't ready, Jake Cave or LaMonte Wade Jr. would likely fill in around the outfield, while Marwin González is likely to play first base in Sanó's absence.

Though some have speculated that Luis Arraez could slide up into the leadoff position after hitting .334 as a rookie, manager Rocco Baldelli seemed to prefer keeping Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco toward the top of his lineup during both Spring Training and Summer Camp. There's still some question as to how he will arrange the three through eight hitters in the lineup -- everyone in that group but Arraez hit 30 or more homers in 2019 -- but any arrangement of those hitters will likely do just fine.

Projected lineup

White Sox: This lineup marks the most complete attack manager Rick Renteria has had at his disposal since he took over as manager in 2017, and it’s not even close. It’s also a power-packed group, as a completely healthy starting nine features eight players with at the very least 20-plus home run potential. Tim Anderson jumped his average from .240 in 2018 to a Major League best .335 in ’19, winning the AL batting title, while José Abreu’s 123 RBIs topped the AL. Grandal and Encarnación have great on-base capabilities and Encarnación becomes a truly experienced presence in the designated hitter slot.

Luis Robert is the X factor in this lineup. He hit second in intrasquad games during Yoán Moncada’s absence, but also has hit in the middle of the order. Renteria has talked about hitting Robert lower initially to take the pressure off the No. 3 prospect overall, per MLB Pipeline, but Robert looks ready to take on said pressure.

Projected lineup

Who are the starting pitchers?
Twins: José Berríos doesn't know if there's anything necessarily different about his energy in his season debuts. Regardless of the reason, he brought wipeout stuff in his first outing of both 2018 (nine innings, three hits and zero runs vs. BAL) and '19 (7 2/3 innings, two hits and zero runs vs. CLE). There wasn't much doubt that he would earn his second straight Opening Day nod after he lowered his ERA to a career-low 3.68 and made his second appearance in the All-Star Game last season. Berríos was often at his best against the White Sox last season, when he went 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA in five starts against the division rivals.

White Sox: Lucas Giolito gets his first Opening Day honor after putting together an All-Star season in 2019. Strangely enough, that breakout campaign didn’t exactly start out perfectly as Giolito allowed 11 earned runs over his first 16 innings pitched. But he yielded 56 earned runs over 160 2/3 innings during the remainder of the campaign, contributing to a 14-9 record, 3.41 ERA and 228 strikeouts against 57 walks to tie for sixth in the American league Cy Young Award voting. Giolito had mixed results in ’19 against the Twins, producing a 2-2 record with a 3.24 ERA. On July 25 at home, the Twins knocked out four homers in five innings vs. the right-hander, but Giolito bounced back on Aug. 21 to throw a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts at Target Field.

How will the bullpens line up after the starter?
Twins: Taylor Rogers is the closer of a deep bullpen that also features a late-innings core of Tyler Duffey, Trevor May, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard. Even the next two options, youngsters Zack Littell and Cody Stashak, had considerable success at the Major League level last season. Duffey, May and Littell in particular improved immensely last season due to the influence of new pitching coach Wes Johnson, then-assistant pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and their group of analysts, advance scouts and biomechanical experts. Matt Wisler and two or three young long-relief options should round out a bullpen that led MLB by a wide margin with 4.8 WAR in the second half of last season, per FanGraphs.

White Sox: Alex Colomé returns as the closer after posting 30 saves and a 2.80 ERA over 62 games, with just 42 hits allowed in 61 innings. But the White Sox certainly have other options. Left-hander Aaron Bummer had one of Major League Baseball’s great under-the-radar seasons in 2019, finishing with a 2.13 ERA in 58 games and serving as a ground ball specialist with his sinker. Cishek gives the White Sox a different look from the right side, while hard-throwing Jimmy Cordero has put his name in play for late-inning opportunities. Don’t overlook Codi Heuer, the 24-year-old sixth-round pick in the 2018 Draft, who had a strong spring and an equally strong Summer Camp, leading him to a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Any injuries of note?
Twins: Buxton (left mid-foot sprain) ramped up the intensity of his running and swung against live pitching on Wednesday, but the Twins have been hesitant to push their center fielder too aggressively due to his considerable importance to the team. He is expected to join the team in Chicago. Sanó characterized his plate presence as "50 percent" ready on Sunday following his COVID-19 quarantine. The availability of both players could be a gameday decision. Jake Odorizzi was likely to start Saturday's game, but he was forced onto the 10-day injured list by mild soreness in his upper back, likely causing him to miss a turn through the rotation. Catcher/utility man Willians Astudillo and infielder Nick Gordon remain sidelined with COVID-19.

White Sox: After being out of action since the start of Summer Camp due to a positive COVID-19 test, Moncada returned to the team last Thursday and looked good against the Cubs during his exhibition debut Monday. Moncada figures to be part of Friday’s starting lineup, although don’t look for him to play all three games against the Twins. Mazara has felt “a little under the weather,” according to Renteria, keeping him out of action this week. But nothing is known past that information about the right fielder.

Who is hot and who is not?
Twins: It's tough to read too much into the Summer Camp performances of Twins hitters, since they spent much of the three weeks acclimating to live pitching in rough-at-best approximations of real games. Still, Nelson Cruz had an exceptional camp, with extra-base hits in each of the Twins' four intrasquad scrimmages to close the session. Polanco also had a torrid four-game stretch, with four singles, a double, a homer and a walk across those contests. Wade, Ehire Adrianza, Josh Donaldson and Kepler, too, looked quite comfortable at the plate. Arraez didn't hit the ball too well for much of that time, but rebounded with a pair of singles on Monday, while Sanó was hitless in two games following his return to the field.

White Sox: Robert had a strong Spring Training showing back in Arizona, but he has put on a show during Summer Camp. One of the AL Rookie of the Year Award favorites hit a long home run off of Carlos Rodón as he was falling down and then launched two homers -- including a blast down the left-field line almost hitting the concourse -- in a recent intrasquad game off relievers Kelvin Herrera and Cishek totaling more than 850 feet. Jiménez had looked a tick off at the plate during Summer Camp, but his first-inning grand slam off the Cubs' Yu Darvish on Monday might have put him back on track. Keuchel pitched five scoreless innings against the Cubs, recorded nine outs via the groundball and has been on the mark throughout camp this summer.

Anything else fans might want to know?
• The Twins are using a standard five-man rotation to open the season: Berríos, Odorizzi, Kenta Maeda, Hill, and Homer Bailey. All five starters appeared to be ready to throw five-plus innings by the end of camp, which should be enough to pass games to the deep bullpen.

• Renteria has not announced his rotation beyond Giolito and Keuchel. He has four other options in Dylan Cease, Reynaldo López, Rodón and González, so he could employ a six-man rotation or combine two starters.

• Abreu makes his seventh straight Opening Day start as the White Sox first baseman. He has hit third or cleanup in every one of the previous six Opening Day lineups.