Both clubs are hovering around .500, which says less about who's good and more about who's banged up. The Twins just took 2 of 3 from the Yankees, including an 11-4 laugher and a 6-1 win to close it out, so Minnesota's actually playing its best baseball of the last two weeks heading into Thursday's series finale.
The bigger concern in Minnesota isn't the offense, it's the pitching depth. Bailey Ober, Mick Abel, David Festa and Pablo Lopez are all on extended injured-list stints, and now Zebby Matthews is day-to-day after a foot laceration cut his last start short. That's how a converted afterthought like Paredes ends up starting a series finale in July.
Byron Buxton's hip issue adds another layer of uncertainty for Minnesota. He's been in and out of the lineup with the same hip flaring up twice this season, and after aggravating it again over the weekend, Thursday's status is worth watching for a Twins offense that leans on him for thump up top.
Cleveland's counting on its bullpen to bail out a lineup that's missing its best hitter — Ramirez was hitting at a 131 wRC+ clip before the hand injury, easily the Guardians' top bat. Without him, Kyle Manzardo and Steven Kwan have to carry more weight than usual, and that's a real swing factor for whether Cleveland can close this series out on the road.