Minnesota Twins: Breaking Down the 2022 AL Central Rivals-Chicago

Minnesota Twins: AL Central Rival 2022 Predictions

Let’s get right to it: unless the team gets hit with even more injuries, the Chicago White Sox should win this division. The Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers are going to be way better in 2022, but this is Chicago’s division to lose.

The best case scenario for the White Sox is easy to envision. Cease and Kopech take the expected big steps to join Giolito and Lynn as the most fearsome foursome in baseball. Keuchel rebounds to be a solid fifth starter. The bullpen doesn’t miss Crochet and the pitching group is the best in baseball.

The lineup is dominant and the young players stay healthy and the lineup is baseball’s best, leading the White Sox to 100 wins. They then march through a weaker American League before bringing home a World Series (or at least the AL Pennant).

Parise agrees: “The best case scenario for this team is that they win the World Series. It is hard to do that, but they are one of the best teams in the AL.” It’s also not hard to imagine the worst case scenario for this team, especially with the injuries that have already happened.

Lance Lynn doesn’t look like himself in his return, the vaunted outfield plays 162 games combined, and Kopech is injured facing a much larger workload. The back of the rotation overworks the bullpen, and a team with title aspirations wins 80-85 games and barely makes the playoffs (or misses them entirely.

The likely scenario is closer to the first. The Royals and Guardians are going to be murdered by this team, and though it’s not as easy as the AL West, it’s far easier than the AL East. The White Sox should win 95 games, the division and probably a playoff series or maybe two if everyone stays healthy. If the Twins plan to compete, the road to the division title runs through Chicago.