TL;DR: If we think of baseball season as a marathon, the Twins are basically still at the starting line while the best teams are already over a mile down the course. They can make that up, but they’re starting with a severe disadvantage, and they simply might not have the tools to do so. If we set a baseline goal of 85 wins for the Twins, they have to play .552 baseball for the rest of the year — technically doable, but probably a stretch unless some of those aforementioned breakout candidates take the next step. And, to be fair, those breakout candidates were always going to have to take the next step for the Twins to make the playoffs this year — even before they lost the first eight games of the season. Minnesota isn’t out of it yet. But the odds — and history — aren’t on their side.