This week’s road trip to Texas features a scheduling anomaly typically reserved for only the very beginning of the season. While teams are used to having a mid-series off day in case of rain on Opening Day, it’s far from common in the middle of June.
The Twins won the first two games of their series in Arlington, Texas, against the Rangers before having an off day on Wednesday and resuming the series on Thursday.
The reason for it?
The World Cup takes center stage.
Across the street from Globe Life Field, England and Croatia had a mid-day game at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. And while the off day is a little-seen scheduling quirk, Twins manager Derek Shelton said he thought it could benefit his team.
That’s because Globe Life Field and Chase Field, where the Twins head over the weekend to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, are two of just a handful of stadiums that use artificial turf — which is harder on players’ bodies than grass.
“We’re six days on turf, and we’re building in an off day in the middle of it going into night, night, day off, day,” Shelton said. “So the guys that I worry about being on the turf, we have a built-in off day to give them (ahead of) a day game. So I can adjust lineups that way.”
The manager specifically mentioned Byron Buxton, who manned center on both Monday and Tuesday. In April, when the Twins played on turf in Toronto, Buxton played in two of three games. Same for when the Twins went to Tampa Bay, when Buxton was the designated hitter in one of the two games he played.
“On that side of it logistically, I actually like (the day off),” Shelton said.
The Twins do actually have one more mid-series off day coming up this season, but it’s for a very different reason. After playing on Thursday August 13 in the Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa, they will have Friday off before resuming their series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday at Target Field.
Abel rehab update
Ever since Bailey Ober landed on the injured list late last month, the Twins have been utilizing a bullpen day every time his turn in the rotation came up. They rode that formula to a 4-2 win on Monday in Texas, with Mike Paredes throwing 4 2/3 innings in his longest major-league outing to date.
But that could soon come to an end.
Mick Abel, who threw three scoreless innings in his first rehab assignment this month, tossed five more innings on Tuesday for the Triple-A Saints, giving up two runs (one earned) and striking out five in St. Paul’s 21-2 victory over Omaha.
Abel threw 61 pitches in the game. The Twins have not yet said whether he will need another rehab outing or whether his next start could come in the majors.
Briefly
Joe Ryan (4-3, 3.17 earned-run average) will take the ball for the series finale in Texas, opposed by Jack Leiter (3-6, 4.97 ERA). … Infielder Kaelen Culpepper, one of the Twins’ top prospects, was placed on the injured list at St. Paul with a left hip strain this week. Culpepper, 23, was likely getting nearer to a big league call-up with a strong June before the injury.