Minnesota Twins: 5 most important players in the second half

The Minnesota Twins will be looking for reinforcements in the coming weeks, but several players on the roster will need to step up in the second half.

Back in March, if you would have told someone that the Minnesota Twins would be coming out of the All-Star break with a 5 1/2 lead in the American League Central, they would have thought you were out of your mind. The Twins came off a disastrous season in 2018 and while they finished in second place in the division, they still had plenty of holes with a record of 78-84.

The offseason didn’t do much to quell the concerns of Twins Territory either, as Minnesota passed on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper to sign their own guys (Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco) and add complementary pieces on the market. The Twins quickly alienated those concerns in the first half as they flew out of the gates and built a big lead over the Cleveland Indians.

Although the lead, which was as big as 11 1/2 games, has been cut in half, there’s still plenty of reasons for optimism, but still, questions to be answered. Many Twins players have answered those questions in the first half, but as the games become more important down the stretch, several players will have to step up and help lead Minnesota to its first division title since 2010.