Old teammates square off as Giants, Twins finish series

Jul 14, 2024, 7:43 AM | Updated: 8:35 am

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - APRIL 12: Blake Snell #7 of the San Francisco Giants acknowledges the crowd du...

(Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Sactown Sports

Chris Paddack will reunite with a former teammate and the manager who traded him when the Minnesota Twins and San Francisco Giants wrap up the unofficial first half of the season in Northern California on Sunday afternoon.

The clubs split the first two games of the series.

Minnesota’s Paddack pitched his first three seasons from 2019-21 for the San Diego Padres, a rival of the Giants in the National League West. They dueled seven times over that span — his only career appearances against San Francisco — with the right-hander going 1-1 with a 3.82 ERA.

His third season with the Padres coincided with left-hander Blake Snell’s first year with the club. Snell, now with the Giants, will oppose Paddack on Sunday.

Don’t run on Patrick Bailey 😤

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— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 14, 2024

Giants vs. Twins preview

Snell was No. 2 in the Padres’ rotation that season and went 7-6 with a 4.20 in 27 starts. Fourth in the rotation, Paddack went 7-7 with a 5.07 ERA in 22 starts.

San Diego didn’t make the playoffs that year, costing manager Jayce Tingler his job. A month into the offseason, the Padres hired Bob Melvin, and five months later, Paddack was traded to the Twins in a five-player deal that included Taylor Rogers going to Padres.

Melvin now manages the Giants and Rogers is one of their relievers. He took the loss in Saturday’s 4-2 defeat.

Seeking a series win after the interleague rivals split the first two games, Paddack (5-3, 5.18 ERA) has failed to add to his win total despite having faced the cellar-dwelling Oakland Athletics twice and Chicago White Sox once in his last three starts. The 28-year-old allowed 10 runs in 12 innings in those outings, taking a no-decision in each.

Meanwhile, Snell (0-3, 7.85) returned from a left groin strain to throw five shutout innings, allowing one hit, in a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. The left-hander didn’t figure into the decision in his first outing since June 2.

Snell’s groin injury occurred in his third start after having missed a month with a left adductor strain. Some speculated during his absence that the 31-year-old was frustrated that the Giants were rushing him back, but he refuted that notion earlier this week.

“I’ve been treated really well here, and I’ve really enjoyed my time here,” said Snell, who signed with the Giants on March 19. “They care a lot. They want to win, but I think they just care about the players a lot.”

A former American Leaguer with the Tampa Bay Rays, Snell has faced the Twins six times in his career, going 2-2 with a 5.97 ERA.

Snell might catch a break if Twins shortstop Carlos Correa is forced to miss a second consecutive game with a bruised right heel suffered in Friday’s series opener.

Willi Castro moved over from second base, where he played Friday, to provide two hits out of the leadoff spot and spotless play at shortstop in Saturday’s win.

“He’s the real MVP of this team,” Correa said of Castro, who has been added to the American League All-Star team. “He plays everywhere. If somebody gets hurt, he replaces them with no problem.

“If you ask him to play second, he plays great defense at second base. If you ask him to play shortstop, left, center, it doesn’t matter. He plays everywhere. When you have a guy like that, he makes you so much better as a team. I think we should appreciate him way more than we do already. He’s a real great player.”

-Field Level Media