Twins, Guardians have challenging second half of season ahead

Minnesota has the third-most challenging schedule remaining in the American League.

Author:
Tommy Wiita
Publish date:
Jul 16, 2024 8:18 PM EDT

In this story:

Buckle up, Minnesota Twins fans: the second half of the season is approaching and it won't be an easy path.

According to Tankathon, the Twins have the third-most challenging strength of schedule remaining (.511) in the American League, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays (.528) and Cleveland Guardians (.523).

Cleveland having an even tougher schedule could be a positive for Minnesota, as they trail the first-place Guardians by 4.5 games.

The Twins and Guardians play each other eight more times; four at Target Field August 8-11 and four at Progressive Field September 16-19.

The Twins' toughest opponents left to play besides their division rival are:

Philadelphia Phillies (at home July 22-24)
Baltimore Orioles (at home Sept. 27-29)
Milwaukee Brewers (at home July 20-21)
Atlanta Braves (at home Aug. 26-28)
Boston Red Sox (at Fenway Park Sept. 20-22)

The benefit of playing better teams at home always sways in the Twins' favor, as they currently have a better home record (27-18) than away (27-24). It'll come down to beating the teams they are expected to such as the Chicago White Sox (three home games), Miami Marlins (three home games), Los Angeles Angels (three home games), Toronto Blue Jays (three home games), Chicago Cubs (three road games) and Texas Rangers (four road games).

As for Cleveland, here are the toughest matchups ahead, not including Minnesota:

Philadelphia Phillies (at Citizens Bank Park July 26-28)
Baltimore Orioles (at home Aug. 1-4)
New York Yankees (at Yankee Stadium Aug. 20-22)
Los Angeles Dodgers (at Dodger Stadium Sept. 6-8)
Milwaukee Brewers (at American Family Field Aug. 16-18)

The Guardians playing on the road more often against tougher teams could be the difference, as they are currently the best team at home in the AL (30-11) but near .500 on the road (28-26).

As for the AL Wild Card race, the Yankees have the first spot over the Twins by three games and the Red Sox have the last spot, up two games on the Kansas City Royals.

According to Tankathon, the Yankees have the 11th-easiest remaining schedule while the Red Sox have 10th-hardest schedule in the second half.

Injuries, trades and an assortment of other factors will play into the results by October. Let's see what happens.