The Minnesota Twins are not having a great season thus far, sitting in last place in the American League Central with a 16-22 record. Hope among Twins Territory is very low. By looking at Minnesota's record alone, most would assume the team is nowhere near a playoff spot, even though it's still early in the season. However, despite being six games below .500, the Twins are just 3 1/2 games back of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians and 2 games back of the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
It's remarkable how close the Twins are to being a playoff team despite their poor record. Compared to the National League, the American League is exceptionally weak this year. Eight NL teams (Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds) are above .500. Meanwhile, just four AL teams (New York Yankees, Athletics, Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays) have winning records. Not to mention, the Athletics and Guardians are each only one game above .500.
The Twins are tied for the third-worst record in the league with the Boston Red Sox. The only AL teams with worse records than Boston and Minnesota are the Los Angeles Angels (15-23) and Houston Astros (15-23). Shockingly, the Angels and Astros are each just 3 games out of a Wild Card spot and 4 1/2 games back of the AL West-leading Athletics.
Twins fans should still keep their expectations low. Minnesota will most likely miss the postseason. However, the tight AL standings should at least give Twins Territory a reason, other than monitoring the young players' development, to keep watching the Twins. FanGraphs gives the Twins a 20.3% chance to make the postseason, while PECOTA gives them a 12.3% chance.
Twins set to face AL Central-leading Guardians
The Twins are set to begin a three-game set with the Guardians on Friday. If Minnesota can win the series against the top team in the AL Central, its postseason hopes should drastically improve. But if the Twins lose the three-game set, it'll be tough for any optimistic fans to hold onto hope.
Game 1 of the Twins-Guardians series at Progressive Field in Cleveland is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. CST on Friday. Left-handed rookie Connor Prielipp (3.86 ERA, 26.8 K%, 8.9 BB%, 14 IP, 3 GS) is slated to make the start for Minnesota, while another rookie southpaw in Parker Messick (2.40 ERA, 28.2 K%, 6.4 BB%, 41 1/3 IP, 7 GS) is Cleveland's scheduled starter. The game will be available to stream on Apple TV.
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