CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 14: Shane McClanahan #18 of the Tampa Bay Rays gets set to throw a pitch in the first inning during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on April 14, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/IOS/Getty Images) | Getty Images First Pitch: 3:10 pm CDTTV: Twins.TVRadio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / AudacyThe Minnesota Twins. Ever heard of em?An early start to the season means that it can be game 27 and still only be April. We’re at the point of the season where the oft-cited “small sample size” begins to stretch itself out a bit, meaning that within the next couple of weeks we’ll have a better sense of flukes vs. trends, like whether or not Austin Martin has actually figured out how to become one of the premier hitters in the game.One of the biggest questions that will be answered with a larger sample is just what kind of team the 2026 Minnesota Twins are.
After absolutely mowing down the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox in a riveting home stretch, the Twins lost six out of their next seven, then XXXXXXXXXXXXXX LAST NIGHT XXXXXXBailey Ober has managed to run a 106 ERA+ in five starts so far, despite operating on some godforsaken combination of duct tape and good will. Ober has potentially the lowest velocity manageable in the Big 26, which has led to his changeup outpacing his fastball as his primary pitch, even as the rest of his offerings remain in line with their usage proportions from years prior.Plus, after catastrophically-low run values from his breaking arsenal last year, Ober’s breaking run value is 94th percentile here in April.
Reinventing himself in real-time as a quasi-junkballer, Bailey’s high-wire act has led to team victories in three of his first five starts, and he’s coming off a wonderful outing last weekend during which he held the Cincinnati Reds to three hits and struck out double-digit batters. (Don’t ask what happened after he left.)On the slibbity-gibbity hippity flip-side is Shane McClanahan, who’s returning to game action this year after not having thrown a pitch since 2023. It’s been a ginger return for the brunette lefty, who has maxed out at 90 pitches in four starts, never going more than five innings and mostly struggling with control (11 walks in 18 innings.)GO TWINS GO!