Minnesota Twins Playoff Push is Looking Great

Overtime Heroics Editorial

2193 days ago

The Minnesota Twins playoff aspirations look really good heading into the final month. They were on a hot streak in August and it seems to be continuing into September. The Twins are leading the American League Central by 6.5 games over the Cleveland Indians. There have been two main parts to the Twins extending their lead over the Indians. The first being the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays recently swept Cleveland. Cleveland losing is just as good as Minnesota winning as far as standings go. The second being that Minnesota’s bats have been hot with a slash line of .283/.348/.507. Their OPS of .854 is the fifth best in the MLB going back to August 1st.

August Playoff Push

Nelson Cruz recently came off the IL and had a monster August. He hit .397/.444/.808 while hitting 8 home runs. Minnesota actually broke the single season home run record on September 1st, with Mitch Garver smacking the 268th homer of the year. The homer broke the Yankees’ record of 267 just a season ago.

The pitching, however, has not been the greatest with an ERA of 4.77 during August. Jose Berrios shows that slide with his ERA going up from his 2.43 ERA in July to a 7.57 in 5 starts both months. On the bright side, Michael Pineda is holding steady at a 3.52 ERA and Jake Odorizzi at a 2.86 ERA during the month of August, so all is not lost with the starters.

Twins Playoff Outlook

If the Twins keep playing in September like they did in August they should be winning their first division title in almost a decade. Byron Buxton should be at full capacity in the coming weeks. They just need to keep playing their Minnesota ball and everything will be in shape for a playoff run. The hope is that the Twins’ playoff appearance is beyond the one game Wild Card.

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