Griffin Wong gives you a preview, prediction and pick for tonight’s game between the Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins.

Last season, the Minnesota Twins blew up their roster at the trade deadline, dealing 10 players for a variety of prospects from around the league. After a half-decade of hovering around .500, the Twins are now staring down another rebuild. They’ve started off the season 3-6.

Minnesota will begin a new series tonight when it hosts the Detroit Tigers tonight at 7:40 p.m. ET. The Tigers, one season after losing in the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners, are favored to win the AL Central.

The Twins are expected to send All-Star pitcher Joe Ryan to the mound, while Detroit is likely to opt for Casey Mize.

Let’s break down this matchup with some odds and lines at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins prediction, preview

Neither team’s season is off to a great first few weeks, as the Tigers got swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, even losing a game in which back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal started. They’re also coming off of a loss against the St. Louis Cardinals, who had among the league’s worst offenses last season. Minnesota’s start to the season is less surprising, given the lack of talent on its roster, but losing each series 2-1 and scoring one run in each of its past two games has to be disappointing. The Twins rank in the bottom half of the league on both sides of the ball, while Detroit has been barely above average.

Ryan displayed his All-Star bona fides in Minnesota’s season-opening loss to the Baltimore Orioles, giving up only one hit and two walks over 5.1 scoreless innings of work. His second start was a different story; he allowed nine hits and five runs across four innings. Still, despite the rough outing, his tools are good: his chase and walk rates are in the top quartile, and his fastball was a 93rd percentile pitch last season. He’s also diversified his repertoire, tossing his four-seamer a little less frequently and increasing use of his sinker, which was his second-most effective pitch last season by putaway percentage. Plus, the Tigers were worse both against right-handers and on the road last season. But some signs are more concerning: Ryan has ranked in the bottom decile in barrel rate in each of the past two seasons, and Detroit finds the barrel at among the league’s highest rates. It also hits grounders at the league’s lowest rate, and it was far more effective against finesse pitchers than power pitchers in 2025.

It could be a decent pitching duel between Ryan and Mize. Mize had an up-and-down second half of 2025, pitching to a 4.92 ERA after the All-Star break, but for the season as a whole, he finished with a respectable 3.87. He also got off to a hot start this season, giving up just one run and four hits in six innings of work in his season debut. Mize has some solid tools, as he ranked in the 87th percentile in walk rate last season and in the middle tertile in every other major Statcast category. Plus, his newly trusted splitter has a noteworthy amount of arm-side run, which could help him deceive a Twins lineup whose plate discipline has been just about its only strength this season. Like Ryan, Mize tends to give up barrels too often, but Minnesota hasn’t found the sweet spot quite as frequently as the Tigers.

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins pick, best bet

Best Bet: Under 7 Runs (-105)

I’m a believer in both of these pitchers and not much of a believer in either offense. Ryan has been a consistently above-average pitcher for most of his career, and barrels aside, he has all the tools to shut down Detroit. Mize’s splitter seems legitimate, and the Twins struggled on offense after the trade deadline.

Strong Lean: Casey Mize 6+ Strikeouts (+125)

If Mize’s splitter looks as good as it looked against the Diamondbacks, he should be able to record six strikeouts, given that he had nine against Arizona. Minnesota has struck out the sixth-most times this season.