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One of my specialties, both personally and professionally, is planning for imaginary scenarios that might never happen.
My latest fixation is this: Who would be the starting pitcher for the Twins in a pivotal, winner-take-all Game 3 of a wild card series?
This presupposes, of course, that the Twins make the postseason and play in the wild card round. If you have only been paying attention to the Twins in the last couple of weeks, this notion might seem far-fetched. But in reality, it is a growing near-certainty.
For as rough as things have been for Minnesota lately, with 10 losses in their last 15 games, some of their top rivals in the wild card race have been even worse. The Red Sox have lost four in a row and nine of their last 12 games. The Royals, after pulling even with Cleveland in the division race just a week ago, have now lost seven consecutive games.
It is very likely the Twins will make the playoffs as a wild card. In that best-of-three opening round, the Twins’ first two pitchers would be no-brainers: Pablo Lopez, who was great in the postseason last year and has a 2.06 ERA in his last nine starts, in Game 1. Then Bailey Ober, who outside of one awful start a couple outings ago has been masterful since mid-June, in Game 2.
The best option at this point might be rookie David Festa, who turned in another solid outing in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. He doesn’t have as much experience as fellow rookie Simeon Woods Richardson, but Festa appears to be ascending while Woods Richardson is fading. Festa wouldn’t work deep into a game, but he’s capable of throwing four or five good innings and getting through an order twice.
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