The Minnesota Twins will hope to stay within striking distance of the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers in the American League Central, but it won’t be easy winning games vs. the bookmaker baseball odds without All-Star Justin Morneau in the lineup. He missed his fourth straight game on Thursday and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The Twins could struggle vs. the offshore betting odds without their big first baseman.
Bookmaker odds on the Twins, White Sox and Tigers are very close in the American League Central and a big injury could make the difference. The Twins are hoping that Morneau is not out for long. He has a concussion and the Twins do not want to take any chances. Morneau was hurt over a week ago when he was accidently kneed in the head by Toronto’s John McDonald while trying to break up a double play. He has not played since that time. Morneau was selected for the All-Star game but did not play. He had the third best batting average in the league at .345 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs. The Twins will definitely miss his bat in the lineup and they will miss his defense at first base.
What should help the Twins while Morneau is out is their schedule. They just finished a series with the White Sox but they have some winnable games coming up vs. the bookmaker odds. They host Cleveland for three games early this week and then go on the road against two of the worst teams in the league, Baltimore and Kansas City. Then they come home for another weak team as they face the Mariners in bookmaker baseball odds. The Twins are hoping that Morneau comes back after that series against the Mariners as they have a tough road trip starting in Tampa Bay.
The Twins have the 10th best offense in the league but there is no doubt they are going to be hurt in offshore betting by the absence of Morneau. The Twins need to start getting better pitching. They have the 17th ranked pitching staff in the league and that is simply not good enough to win in the American League on a consistent basis vs. the bookmaker MLB odds.