Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 4/4/26, 4:01 PM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 4/4/26 at 11:24 PM in MLB Picks

Mick Abel of the Minnesota Twins (3-4) began his career in Philadelphia last season and spent just minimal time there before heading to Minnesota. He has not looked promising over his short career. He saw action in 6 games for Philly and finished with a 2-2 record and, more importantly, a 5.04 ERA. He then saw that ERA explode to 8.36 in his 4 games with Minnesota. To kick things off this season, Abel allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in just 3.1 innings against the Orioles in his 1st start of the season.

While Abel has struggled, the Twins had struggled before the last 2 games. Before their back-to-back wins over Kansas City on Thursday and Tampa Bay on Friday, the Twins had lost 4 of their first 5 games to kick off the season. Now they face a Tampa Bay team that is hungry for a win and looking to snap a 3-game losing skid.

Steven Matz will be on the bump for the Rays, and while he was not spectacular in his opening start against the Cardinals, he did earn the win in the game. The Rays scored 6 runs in support of Matz and tacked on an additional 5 runs after he exited the game in route to an 11-7 victory.

If he is going to get run support like that again here against the Twins, it will be hard for them to lose this one. Luckily for Matz, Abel is on the other side and has been notorious for getting lit up early.