TWINS (Santana) at BRAVES (De La Cruz)
Take: TWINS F5
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that Ervin Santana can be very streaky. That makes him prime fade material when he’s scuffling. But when Ervin is servin’, he’s a good follow, and right now Santana is on a roll. The Twins righty has been very strong recently, and was on his way to another win last week before the rains came at Target with Santana up 5-0. I expect him to pick up right where he left off as he takes on the Braves tonight.
Joel De La Cruz will be on the mound for Atlanta. De La Cruz looks like little more than rotation filler for the Braves. There’s nothing in DLC’s minor league resume to suggest he’s a keeper. Sinker, slider, change is the arsenal and De La Cruz is strictly pitch to contact with only acceptable command. He has not proven to be a particular mystery to big league hitters and I would be very surprisied if that changes anytime soon.
There’s a price to pay here as the Twins are clearly not in the road warrior class. But the Braves have been a horror show at home. Some of the models will show the “value” here to be on the Braves. But my own formula is much more based on current form, which I absolutely believe to be a key when sizing up the starting pitching. I’ll look to ride Santana for at least one more start, and my play on this game is the Twins. But as my key is Santana vs. De La Cruz and the Minny pen is not exactly shutdown material, Twins F5 would be my first choice here.
--
MLB Grinder up for Tuesday.
My Early-Bird Discounted Football packages are available here.