Minnesota Twins: A Look at the Wild Card Competition
By Nate Palmer
After sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers, we have to consider the Minnesota Twins as playoff contenders again. Who else is with them in that competition?
The Minnesota Twins just finished a 4-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. That put them half a game back of a wild card spot at the end of games Thursday night, August 10th. That has brought renewed optimism to a team that seemed to wave the white flag a few weeks ago.
Even though a half-game back sounds great (it really is) it is a very crowded place to be in the AL. There is a lot that would need to happen yet for the Twins to actually find themselves in a Wild Card position when the regular season comes to an end. If the team is as upset about the deadline moves as Brian Dozier made it seem, maybe that is enough of an extra boost to get them to the playoffs.
While the Twins are just a half game back of the second wild card, they are part of seven teams all within 3 games of one another. The bullpen that struggled in the early part of the season has revived itself in new roles after the trade of Brandon Kintzler and the rotation has plugged in well around injuries to Hector Santiago, Kyle Gibson, and Phil Hughes and the trade of Jaime Garcia.
So who are those other competing teams? Through the rest of this post, we will take a look at six other wild card contenders. Omitted are current division leaders Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Houston Astros.
With that, let’s take a better look at who the Minnesota Twins will be keeping a close eye for the rest of the season.