As we reach the middle of August, we also arrive smack dab in the thick of the home stretch of the season.
Unlike years past, the AL Central is a three horse race with the Twins and Royals chasing Cleveland and just four games separating everyone.
Minnesota and Kansas City are separated by just a half game, with a massive three-game series on the horizon. By this time next week the Twins could be in control of the division or in third place fighting for their lives.
There’s also a chance that we are exactly where we are now. A four game series against Cleveland produced a stalemate in the standings and no team is any closer to pulling away with the division as they were last week.
All of that is to say the postseason race is going to get more intense as everyone starts to run out of road to travel.
Updated MLB Playoff picture after Twins-Guardians series
AL Central standings
Team | Record | GB |
|---|---|---|
Cleveland Guardians | 69-49 | — |
Minnesota Twins | 65-52 | 3.5 |
Kansas City Royals | 65-53 | 4.0 |
Detroit Tigers | 55-63 | 14 |
Chicago White Sox | 28-91 | 41.5 |
Splitting with Cleveland is a good news/bad news situation.
While the Twins didn’t lose any ground in the division they also didn’t gain any either. Things stand exactly where they were when the series started on Friday, which given the bombardment of injuries is actually a major win for Minnesota.
The flip side of that is that the same thing applies to Kansas City. Minnesota didn’t add any distance on the Royals, but could do that with a huge series against them set to begin on Monday.
It’s just highlights how tight the race is in the AL Central and how much chaos there will be from here until the end of September.
AL Wild Card standings
Team | Record | GB |
|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 70-49 | — |
Minnesota Twins | 65-52 | — |
Kansas City Royals | 65-53 | — |
Boston Red Sox | 62-55 | 3.0 |
Seattle Mariners | 62-56 | 3.0 |
Tampa Bay Rays | 59-58 | 5.5 |
Texas Rangers | 55-63 | 10.0 |
Detroit Tigers | 55-63 | 10.0 |
Right now the Twins figure to be a Wild Card team, but the margin for error is slim. Two teams that need to be watched are Kansas City and Boston, as just 3.5 games separate Minnesota from falling out of the playoff picture.
It’s going to be a thrill ride through the end of the season, and as it stands there seems to be more ways the Twins punch a postseason ticket rather than missing out.
MLB Postseason Bracket if the season ended today
Here’s a look at how things would matchup if everything stays the way it is right now for the remainder of the season:
- (3) Houston Astros vs. (6) Kansas City Royals
- (4) New York Yankees vs. (5) Minnesota Twins
Thankfully there’s still plenty of time for things to change, which they surely will even outside of the tight AL Central race.
Things are even closer over int the AL East, where the Yankees and Orioles will be in a slugfest the rest of the way to try and win the division. Whoever ends up on top in that race will almost certainly have the best record in the American League and clinch the No. 1 seed.
Meanwhile, Houston has snuck back into the drivers seat out West, but would will play in the Wild Card round thanks to having the worst record among division winners. That’s bad news for the Royals, and potentially even worse news for the rest of the AL.
All that Minnesota is focused on is getting that AL Central crown. Doing so would not only potentially give them a first round bye but would help avoid an opening round series against the Yankees.
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