We're officially in the endgame, as the home stretch of the season is finally upon us.
Unlike last year, the Minnesota Twins are comfortably leading the AL Central and are a matter of days away from punching their postseason ticket. The Twins still haven't mathematically won the AL Central, but it's only a matter of time before they do.
Only a historic meltdown can keep the Twins from playing meaningful October baseball, one that not even a curse like Minnesota Sports can fathom.
Assuming the bottom doesn't fall out -- which if it does the team might as well be contracted -- it's time to start counting down the days and ways the Twins can win the division and start preparing for postseason action.
Minnesota Twins postseason scenarios: How soon can the AL Central be won?
As of Friday both the Twins and Guardians each have 15 games remaining on their schedule. With the Twins leading the AL Cental by eight games -- which is also the team's magic number -- a division title is inevitable.
The question isn't if Minnesota will be crowned AL Central champs, it's when.
Big picture, there are two ways this can go. The Twins can emphatically win the division by taking care of business against bad teams while the Guardians struggle against good ones. This is the preferred method of clinching, rather than meandering through the rest of Septmeber and clinching the division by default.
More granularly, the Twins can clinch the AL Central as soon as Monday if everything goes their way. The team's magic number heading into the weekend is eight, but three wins over the White Sox coupled with the Guardians getting swept by the Rangers would shrink the Twins magic number to two heading into Monday.
If that's the case, a Twins win over Cincinnati and a Guardians loss to Kansas City would punch Minnesota's postseason ticket.
Twins remaining games | Guardians remaining games |
|---|---|
at White Sox | vs. Rangers |
at White Sox | vs. Rangers |
at White Sox | vs. Rangers |
at Reds | at Royals |
at Reds | at Royals |
at Reds | at Royals |
vs. Angels | vs. Orioles |
vs. Angels | vs. Orioles |
vs. Angels | vs. Orioles |
vs. A's | vs. Orioles |
vs. A's | vs. Reds |
vs. A's | vs. Reds |
at Rockies | vs. Tigers |
at Rockies | Tigers |
at Rockies | Tigers |
Thats the best-case scenario but not one that should be counted on. Even if Minnesota sweeps the White Sox, the Guardians dropping four straight including a game to the Royals is a tough sell. It's looking more like the Twins will clinch the division at some point midweek or toward the end of the week, assuming they're able to manage winnable games again the White Sox and Reds.
Let's pretend the Twins split against the White Sox and Cleveland somehow manages to win two of three against Texas, Minnesota's magic number would still shrink to five.
MLB Playoff Standings: Can Minnesota Twins clinch No. 2 seed?
The point is, Minnesota's ticket is basically already in. What fans should shift their attention to is the division race out West, as the Twins are well within striking distance of the No. 2 seed in the American League.
Right now the Houston Astros are leading the AL West with their magic number for clinching the No. 2 seed at 10. The Twins are just six games back, which means every win they rack up to bury the Guardians counts toward chasing the Astros for second place.
It's a big gap with only 15 games left, but there's more than an outside chance the Twins can make it happen. Houston has an upcoming series against Seattle, with just two games seprating them in the standings. What the Twins should hope for is a slugfest where the Rangers and Mariners battling for the AL West lead allows Minnesota to close the gap on that No. 2 seed.
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