Chris Paddack will take the mound on Sunday afternoon with a new jersey, a familiar ballpark and a fresh chapter in his career when the Detroit Tigers visit the Minnesota Twins.
In his first start in Minneapolis since being traded to the Tigers by the Twins on July 28, the right-hander will face the team that once pinned hopes on his arm — and ultimately moved on.
But Paddack (4-10, 4.76 ERA) has allowed only one run per game in three of his last four starts. He enjoyed success against the Los Angeles Dodgers before the trade, and the Arizona Diamondbacks and White Sox after it.
The lone blemish? A rocky outing against the Twins on Aug. 5, when he surrendered four runs on six hits in four innings of a 6-3 setback in his only career appearance against them.
“They gave me a little taste of my own blood, you know,” said Paddack, 29. “They put up four runs, and I only had one swing-and-miss, to Royce (Lewis), and it came in the fourth inning.”
Now Paddack will get a chance to redeem himself against the Twins. In his three starts with the Tigers, Paddack has thrown nearly 72 percent of his pitches for strikes and has allowed only one walk.
“Definitely going into this outing with a little revenge in mind,” he said. “I know those guys were good friends and good teammates, but they’re trying to take food off my plate, and it comes down to who wants it more.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said he likes what he’s seeing from his team in this series.
“Our guys are settling in, and there is a lot of belief that we can win every night,” he said.
The Tigers have won four games in a row and six of their past seven, while the Twins have lost three straight, five of their last six and have struggled offensively.
Minnesota’s starting pitcher for Sunday’s game has yet to be announced.
One of the few bright spots has been the play of Luke Keaschall. In 18 games to start his career, he has reached base safely 32 times, with 22 hits, eight walks and two hit-by-pitch. In the Twins’ 8-5 loss on Saturday, the rookie was 2-for-3 with two runs.
Keaschall played a big role in the Twins’ win on Aug. 5 over Paddack. In his first game back since fracturing his forearm in April, Keaschall hammered a cutter over the left field wall in Detroit for a two-run homer.
Another player Minnesota is turning to spark the offense is James Outman, who made his Twins debut Saturday. The 28-year-old outfielder was acquired at the trade deadline from the Los Angeles Dodgers for reliever Brock Stewart and replaced Alan Roden, who was placed on the injured list with a sprained thumb.
The Twins hope Outman re-emerges as the outfielder who played in 151 games for the Dodgers in 2023 and finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting. That season he hit .248 with 86 runs and 70 RBIs.
“He’s going to get opportunities to play, and to hopefully get into a good rhythm and show us some things he can do,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I’d like to get to know the player a little bit.”