The Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers open a three-game set Friday night at Target Field, and both clubs arrive with a long injury list hanging over the series.
First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET, with Brooks Lee and the 75-84 Twins hosting Ezequiel Duran and the 78-80 Rangers.
The series continues Saturday at 4:10 p.m. ET and wraps Sunday at 3:10 p.m.
ET.
Minnesota’s Friday pitching matchup is listed as Joe Ryan against TBA. On Saturday, Dean Kremer is scheduled to face Jacob deGrom. Sunday brings Zebby Matthews against MacKenzie Gore.
The Twins’ injured list includes Byron Buxton, who is on the 10-day IL with a hip injury and is batting .254/.319/.511 with 25 home runs and 46 RBI in 2026. Trevor Larnach is also on the 10-day IL with a wrist injury after hitting .269/.352/.436 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI. Kaelen Culpepper is sidelined by a hamstring injury, while Pablo Lopez is on the 60-day IL with an elbow injury and David Festa is on the 60-day IL with a shoulder injury.
Minnesota also has Cole Sands on the 60-day IL with an elbow injury, Mike Paredes on the 60-day IL with an oblique injury, Anthony Banda on the 60-day IL with a lat injury, and Mick Abel on the 60-day IL with an elbow injury.
Texas comes in with its own crowded injured list. Joc Pederson is on the 10-day IL with a hand injury after producing .235/.329/.487 with 26 home runs and 53 RBI in 2026. Kyle Higashioka is also on the 10-day IL with a flexor tendon injury; he is hitting .218/.306/.370 with 7 home runs and 18 RBI, and his pitching line is listed at 0-0 with a 21.00 ERA and 0.0 K/9.
José Corniell is on the 15-day IL with an elbow injury, and Michel Otanez is on the 15-day IL with an illness. On the 60-day IL, the Rangers have Jack Leiter with an ankle injury, Jalen Beeks with a back injury, Cal Quantrill with a lat injury, Carter Baumler with ribs, and Cole Winn with a shoulder injury.
Over the last 10 games, the Twins are 5-5 with 10 home runs, a .238 average, .281 on-base percentage, .364 slugging percentage, and a 2.96 ERA. The Rangers are 6-4 in that stretch with five home runs, a .234 average, .314 OBP, .333 SLG, and a 3.90 ERA.
Minnesota has held opponents to a .217 batting average against over that span, while Texas has allowed a .216 BAA. The Twins have also piled up 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings in their last 10 games, compared with 6.7 for the Rangers.
In Other News...
Twins Could Turn To A Former First-Round Pick Few Saw Coming
The Twins may be looking in an unexpected place for bullpen help, and it comes with a familiar name. Keoni Cavaco, their 2019 first-round draft pick, has moved from being a position player to pitching after spending two seasons in independent baseball, and the organization is now considering him as a possible relief option.
General manager Jeremy Zoll has already confirmed the clubs interest, while manager Derek Shelton has said he wants to feature as many former first-round picks as possible on the field. If Cavaco gets the call, his path would be one of the more unusual ones in recent Twins memory, taking him from High-A to independent ball and now to the edge of a major-league bullpen opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Former Twins Arm Is Putting The Jeff Hoffman Trade Back In Focus
The Jeff Hoffman deal has already had one of those little side stories that can make a trade look a lot bigger in hindsight. John Klein, the right-hander the Twins sent to Toronto in the Aug. 3 swap, had just made his major league debut in Minnesota this season before becoming part of the package that brought Hoffman to the bullpen picture.
Kleins next step came quickly, with the Blue Jays recently calling him up for a doubleheader against the Orioles, a reminder that his path is still moving even as his minor league performance has been uneven. Toronto has him ranked as its No. 29 overall prospect, so his progress will keep drawing attention in a trade that Minnesota will be measured against for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Walker Jenkins Is Making The Twins Look Right For Calling Him Up
Walker Jenkins arrived in the majors with the kind of uneven first impression that can come with a late-season call-up, but the Twins have spent the past week seeing more and more of why they brought him up. After opening his MLB career with a low batting average, the young outfielder has started to settle in, going 11-for-25 with three home runs over his last six games and giving Minnesota a much clearer look at the kind of bat he can bring.
Even with the Twins out of playoff contention, Jenkins stretch at the plate has made the promotion look worthwhile in the larger sense. He still has rookie eligibility left for 2027, and his path to this point has already included multiple injuries, which makes every productive game feel a little more meaningful for a team trying to gauge what comes next. What Minnesota is watching now is whether this late-season burst is the start of a longer run toward becoming a regular outfield option. [Read more 🡒]