How is the Twins' playoff picture shaping up?
With their magic number to clinch the American League Central down to seven, it looks like the Minnesota Twins will return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. But with two weeks to go, it's anybody's guess who they will face.
The American League Wild Card race is tightening up and although the Twins are sure to open the postseason at Target Field, there are a slew of possibilities entering the final weeks of the regular season.
Here's a look at the Twins playoff scenarios entering Sunday's games and how they could affect the Twins in October.
Chasing the No. 2 seed
The Twins enter Sunday's series finale against the Chicago White Sox five games back of the Astros for the second seed in the American League which has its benefits for a postseason run.
By winning the second seed, the Twins could bypass the Wild Card round of the playoffs and wait for their opponent in the divisional round and they have the schedule to do it with Cincinnati, the Ohtani-less Los Angeles Angels, Oakland and Colorado as their final opponents.
But the Astros have a five-game lead over the Twins with 13 games to go. While their schedule includes a three-game series with the Orioles beginning Monday and a three-game series with Seattle in the final week of the regular season, it could be too big of a gap to overcome, leaving the Twins locked into the No. 3 seed.
The Wild Card picture
At this point, it appears that Tampa Bay and Baltimore are the two teams the Twins will not see in the opening round of the playoffs. With the Rays one game back of the Orioles for first place in the AL East and eight games clear of Texas in the loss column, they'll either finish with the No. 1 seed or the No. 4 seed.
Behind the Rays is a log jam that concerns the Twins. Texas has partially recovered from a late-season swoon and are optimistic that they will get Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia back from injury, the Rangers are just a half-game ahead of Toronto for the final Wild Card spot.
The Blue Jays are also trying to hold off the Seattle Mariners, who have also cooled off after a white-hot stretch in August, but don't discount the Twins' old postseason nemesis – the New York Yankees.
The Yankees have turned to a youth movement in the final weeks of the regular season, with the now-injured Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells have helped them go 6-4 over their last 10 games.
New York would have to catch fire in order to catch Toronto for the final Wild Card spot but it would be fitting for the Yankees to surge back into the postseason just to torment the Twins one last time.
What's the best matchup for the Twins?
At this point, it's unclear who would be the best-case scenario for the Twins but they all have some positives.
The Twins went 5-2 in their season series with the Rangers, who also lost Max Scherzer for the season, but Jung could jump-start the Texas lineup just in time for the postseason.
The Twins also split their six games with the Blue Jays this season but Toronto has a pitching staff that ranks third in strikeouts. That's not a good thing for a team on pace to break the record for most strikeouts in a season.
Perhaps Seattle could be the best matchup as well but their tear in August signals a team that could get hot at any moment. Then there's the Yankees who are responsible for 13 of the 18 losses in the Twins postseason losing streak.
Maybe it's best for the Twins to sit back and watch the Wild Card contenders fight it out, but with two weeks to go, they won't be short on options.
