Final 36 Games Road to Playoffs 

8/22 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

The KC-Cle series will be huge. If 1 team dominates those series (6-1 or 7-0) it could basically take 1 opponent out of the race, but also could catapult the other into a solid division lead.

The other interesting thing, to me, between the Guardians and Twins is the last series of the year for each team. Cleveland gets Houston while the Twins have Baltimore. If 1 of those teams has their division and playoff spot clinched (probably more likely to be Houston) they may sit some starting pitching to get it lined up for the playoffs, or just extra rest while the other team may still be going full tilt to get their division locked up. MLB has done a nice job with limiting September call-ups to 28 guys so playoff races aren't so impacted by bad teams playing the bottom of their 40-man against playoff hopefuls, but that last series can still be effected by teams with their spots locked up trying to lineup their pitching.

Final 36 Games Road to Playoffs 

8/22 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

8/23 Update: TWINS off day, 1-0.  Guardians Lost 0-2 (Twins -2 back)

chpettit - didn't look at is close enough for final series, but could work in Twins favor as well.  O's starting pitching has a serious injury bug and Yankees could be in front by decent margin, so O's could be fighting Red Sox for a playoff spot.  Looking forward to September baseball, especially if Twins close out August on a really good run of W's

The Twins are on their way to far outplaying the expectations from March; it's a good season for the local nine. One thing that will clearly make a difference is whether Correa and Buxton return healthy and effective. Additionally, the decisions made on who gets sent down will be crucial. Julien and Martin have a real chance to be the difference in games with their skills. I'm hoping the Twins opt for two position players starting September 1. It's time for the bats to go on an extended run.

T&R - I think Lee could be outside looking in if and when Correa/Buxton return.  What might get interesting is making the playoffs, your 1st round roster will only need 3 starting pitchers but do you keep a 4th to piggy back let's say a SWR who may go 4-5 innings and then you throw a Zebby or Festa piggyback to reduce the quality of bullpen. 

Let's say we do, we could add a bench guy for defense/pinch run that has some speed late might a Kiersey get a look in September to see if he fits the bill?

Thanks for following along on the Road and commenting!

Right now Postseason is kinda-sorta maybe.

Next couple weeks against teams that are average to good will pretty much tell the whole story.

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

The KC-Cle series will be huge. If 1 team dominates those series (6-1 or 7-0) it could basically take 1 opponent out of the race, but also could catapult the other into a solid division lead.

The other interesting thing, to me, between the Guardians and Twins is the last series of the year for each team. Cleveland gets Houston while the Twins have Baltimore. If 1 of those teams has their division and playoff spot clinched (probably more likely to be Houston) they may sit some starting pitching to get it lined up for the playoffs, or just extra rest while the other team may still be going full tilt to get their division locked up. MLB has done a nice job with limiting September call-ups to 28 guys so playoff races aren't so impacted by bad teams playing the bottom of their 40-man against playoff hopefuls, but that last series can still be effected by teams with their spots locked up trying to lineup their pitching.

A counter to Houston resting, is right now they are the 3rd division leader, 2 games behind us, and 4 games behind Cleveland.  If they are within striking distance of getting bye to second round, where they can then rest pitchers as well, they should look to try to beat Cleveland.  Where if Baltimore cannot catch Yankees, they would want to set up staff for wild card round, assuming they have wild card locked.  

What could be more interesting is that if we are number 2 wild card, and Baltimore is number 1 wild card, we would finish out season against Baltimore home, then go there for the wild card match up, if flipped they would just stay in MN.  However, it would lead to some interesting decisions during that series to maybe not use top pen arms or top starters to not get recent looks at them for the coming series. 

I agree the KC Cleveland matchup, could push one out of the race.  Our matchup against Boston could be huge too, if we push them out of the race. Then it would just come down to who plays who and where. 

2 minutes ago, Trov said:

A counter to Houston resting, is right now they are the 3rd division leader, 2 games behind us, and 4 games behind Cleveland.  If they are within striking distance of getting bye to second round, where they can then rest pitchers as well, they should look to try to beat Cleveland.  Where if Baltimore cannot catch Yankees, they would want to set up staff for wild card round, assuming they have wild card locked.  

What could be more interesting is that if we are number 2 wild card, and Baltimore is number 1 wild card, we would finish out season against Baltimore home, then go there for the wild card match up, if flipped they would just stay in MN.  However, it would lead to some interesting decisions during that series to maybe not use top pen arms or top starters to not get recent looks at them for the coming series. 

I agree the KC Cleveland matchup, could push one out of the race.  Our matchup against Boston could be huge too, if we push them out of the race. Then it would just come down to who plays who and where. 

I wasn't predicting Houston is going to do that, they're just more likely to have their division locked up than Baltimore is so I used them as the example. But I agree, there's a lot of different things that will be at play throughout September as the season comes to a close. Should be an exciting month with a bunch of teams still playing for something!

Back after a day off for myself - Date/Result/Record of remaining games (games out of 1st in division):

8/21 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

8/22 Update: TWINS off day, 1-0.  Guardians Lost 0-2 (Twins -2 back)

8/23 Update: TWINS Lost, 1-1. Guardians Lost 0-3 (Twins -2 back) (((( Royals Win, -1 game back to Guards)

8/24 Update: TWINS Win, 2-1 Guardians Win 1-3  (Twins -2 back). (((( Royals Lost - -2 back)

8/21 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

8/22 Update: TWINS off day, 1-0.  Guardians Lost 0-2 (Twins -2 back)

8/23 Update: TWINS Lost, 1-1. Guardians Lost 0-3 (Twins -2 back) (((( Royals Win, -1 game back to Guards)

8/24 Update: TWINS Win, 2-1 Guardians Win 1-3  (Twins -2 back). (((( Royals Lost - -2 back)

8/25 Update: TWINS Lost, 2-2. Guardians Win 2-3 (Twins -3 back).  (((( Royals Lost -3 back)

8/21 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

8/22 Update: TWINS off day, 1-0.  Guardians Lost 0-2 (Twins -2 back)

8/23 Update: TWINS Lost, 1-1. Guardians Lost 0-3 (Twins -2 back) (((( Royals Win, -1 game back to Guards)

8/24 Update: TWINS Win, 2-1 Guardians Win 1-3  (Twins -2 back). (((( Royals Lost - -2 back)

8/25 Update: TWINS Lost, 2-2. Guardians Win 2-3 (Twins -3 back).  (((( Royals Lost -3 back)

8/26 Update: Twins Lost, 2-3. Guardians Lost 2x (Twins -2.5 Back). ((((Royals Won 2x - 1 back)

3 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

8/21 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

8/22 Update: TWINS off day, 1-0.  Guardians Lost 0-2 (Twins -2 back)

8/23 Update: TWINS Lost, 1-1. Guardians Lost 0-3 (Twins -2 back) (((( Royals Win, -1 game back to Guards)

8/24 Update: TWINS Win, 2-1 Guardians Win 1-3  (Twins -2 back). (((( Royals Lost - -2 back)

8/25 Update: TWINS Lost, 2-2. Guardians Win 2-3 (Twins -3 back).  (((( Royals Lost -3 back)

8/26 Update: Twins Lost, 2-3. Guardians Lost 2x (Twins -2.5 Back). ((((Royals Won 2x - 1 back)

Not looking good for 16-6.

No offense, but I think you guys are looking in the wrong direction. With Buxton and Correa apparently taking the rest of hte season to heal, there's little chance that this team can win the division. They are going to have to fight hard and get lucky just to make the playoffs. 

The place to look is behind. Boston was 5 games out of the final WC spot coming into tonight's game. They have the 17th hardest schedule remaining, the Twins are 19th. That's where we should focus, holding off Boston and making the playoffs. With this team as depleted as it is, that ain't gonna be easy.  

8/21 Update: TWINS Win, 1-0. Guardians Lost 0-1 (Twins -2.5 back)

8/22 Update: TWINS off day, 1-0.  Guardians Lost 0-2 (Twins -2 back)

8/23 Update: TWINS Lost, 1-1. Guardians Lost 0-3 (Twins -2 back) (((( Royals Win, -1 game back to Guards)

8/24 Update: TWINS Win, 2-1 Guardians Win 1-3  (Twins -2 back). (((( Royals Lost - -2 back)

8/25 Update: TWINS Lost, 2-2. Guardians Win 2-3 (Twins -3 back).  (((( Royals Lost -3 back)

8/26 Update: Twins Lost, 2-3. Guardians Lost 2x (Twins -2.5 Back). ((((Royals Won 2x - 1 back)

8/27 UPdate: Twins Lost 2-4. Guardians Lost 2-5 (Twins -2.5 Back). ((((Royals Won - 1st place even)

8/28 Update: Twins Lost 2-5. Guardians Won 3-5 (Twins -3.5 Back). ((( Royals Lost - 1 back)

WildCard Twins +3 to Sox for final spot

8/29 Update: Twins Off - Guardians Off - Royals at Houston - RedSox vs Blue Jays

The Twins are exactly between the Red Sox and Guardians. MN controls its own destiny going into September.