Twins at Orioles
The Minnesota Twins made a surprising run to a wild-card spot in the American League last season and are looking for more with a maturing young roster. The Twins will try to get off to a strong start when they open 2018 by visiting the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.
Minnesota added some thump to the lineup with slugger Logan Morrison, who hit 38 home runs for Tampa Bay in 2017, and bolstered the rotation with the additions of Jake Odorizzi and Lance Lynn. "We're going to bust our tail to win a championship this year. This year. We're all in," Twins second baseman Brian Dozier told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "My whole career here, people kept saying we need to rebuild, and then we shocked people with the fast-forward rebuild. To me, we showed that we're pretty dang good right now, and we've added from there. We've got the pieces in place to win this year." The Orioles would like to win this year as well with the future uncertain for franchise player Manny Machado, who will become a free agent at the end of the season. Machado is moving over to shortstop from third base with the departure of J.J. Hardy while Tim Beckham, who hit .306 with 10 homers in 50 games after being acquired from Tampa Bay last season, slides over to third.
TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Jake Odorizzi (2017: 10-8, 4.14 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Dylan Bundy (2017: 13-9, 4.24)
Minnesota acquired Odorizzi from the Tampa Bay Rays at the beginning of spring training and took the Opening Day honor over Kyle Gibson and Jose Berrios. "I'm not going to view myself as a different pitcher now that I'm an Opening Day starter," Odorizzi told reporters. "(I'm) just ready to do my job and do it for the other 24 guys on the team." The 28-year-old went 2-0 with a 3.10 ERA in four starts against Baltimore last season, striking out 21 in 20 1/3 total innings.
Bundy will be making his first Opening Day start as well after making it through his first full season as a starter in 2017. "Obviously, I'm honored and humbled by it," Bundy told reporters. "Very excited. Going to have to control the emotions a little bit and just pitch my game." The 25-year-old lost both of his starts against the Twins last season, serving up a total of eight runs on 11 hits and five walks in 12 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins RHPs Phil Hughes (oblique) and Ervin Santana (finger) will both start the season on the disabled list.
2. Orioles RHP Alex Cobb, who did not sign with the team until earlier this month, will not break camp with the team and will slot into the rotation sometime in the second week of April.
3. Minnesota won five of the seven meetings last season.