3 Hardest Series Remaining on Twins' Regular Season schedule

The Minnesota Twins were in control of the AL Central for the majority of the 2022 MLB season, but that's changed recently. A 6-9 record over the Twins' last 15 games has allowed the Cleveland Guardians to leapfrog them, owning the division's top spot with a 1.5-game lead.

While the Twins are only half-a-game back of the American League's final wild card spot, they must start winning games sooner than later. The Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox are all within 3.5 games of them, putting Minnesota's postseason aspirations in jeopardy.

According to Tankathon, the Twins hold the 10th-easiest strength of schedule across baseball in their remaining 51 games.

Here's a look at the three hardest remaining games on the Twins' regular season schedule.

Twins Postseason

1. @ Houston Astros (Aug. 23-25)

The Houston Astros are the top American League team and the Twins have the "honor" of facing them in a three-game series at Minute Maid Park. Unfortunately, the Twins haven't had much success lately against the Astros, going 4-8 in their last 12 meetings with the AL West leaders. Making matters worse, Minnesota is averaging only 3.6 runs scored in its last 20 trips to Houston, meaning it'll likely be an uphill battle against an Astros pitching staff with a 3.05 ERA in 2022 (No. 2). The Astros already swept the Twins in three games earlier this year, highlighting how tough this next series could be.

2. @ New York Yankees (Sept. 5-8)

In addition to facing the Astros, the Twins also have a four-game series left against the AL's second-best team, the New York Yankees. The Yankees have been a pitcher's worst nightmare this season, averaging 5.25 runs per game (No. 2), led by Aaron Judge and his MLB-best 46 home runs. Furthermore, the Twins have struggled against the Bronx Bombers, going 6-24 in their last 30 games against the Yankees. Yes, they've been that bad. Adding insult to injury, Minnesota has only won two of its last 23 trips to New York. If the Twins can't reverse their fortunes against the Yankees, making the playoffs will only be tougher.

3. @ Chicago White Sox (Oct. 3-5)

The Twins' final series of the season is a three-game showdown against the rival White Sox. Though the Twins are 11-9 in their last 20 games against the White Sox, they've lost four of their last five meetings this season. Considering that the average final score of those four losses was 9.5 to 3 in favor of Chicago, it isn't hard to tell that Minnesota could have its work cut out. With how close both the AL Central and wild card standings are, this series could easily determine both clubs' postseason fate. The White Sox are more talented than they've shown this year and if Tony La Russa can get his players to buy in, the Twins could be in real danger.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel