Both rotations have taken real hits this year — Minnesota is without Pablo Lopez, David Festa and Mick Abel for the long haul — and Cleveland's bullpen has been shorthanded with Tim Herrin still working back in the minors. It's the kind of series where whichever team gets its lineup whole first has a real edge.
Minnesota rattled off 3 straight wins over the Angels and Cubs before Chicago blew the doors off them in the finale, a 10-1 embarrassment that capped a miserable road trip. That kind of split sums up the Twins' season — flashes of the team that's fifth in MLB in wRC+, undercut by a bullpen and defense that keep letting bad innings snowball.
Cleveland's been just as uneven, dropping 2 of their last 3 to Pittsburgh by 6 runs each sandwiched around one solid win. Williams has actually been throwing well of late — 11 strikeouts and zero walks in his last outing — but a offense that's grinding through injuries to Ramirez, Angel Martinez and now searching for consistency hasn't given him much cushion.
This series opener won't move the needle in the standings much given where both clubs sit, but it's a fair test of which team's reinforcements arrive first and start paying off.