The Minnesota Twins are tied with the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball right now, with the Philadelphia Phillies just a mere .5 game behind.
If the Twins want to make a deep postseason run this year they need to win now and guarantee home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Twins are an impressive 27 games above .500 at home, sitting at 52-25. That is also the best home field record in the major leagues right now.
Being on the road is a different story, where they sit just five games over .500 at 40-35. That is the second worst road record among the current division leaders. And only the Atlanta Braves of the National League, who are chasing after the NL Wild Card right now, have a worse road record.
That says that two teams play on the road worse than the Twins this season for playoff bound teams, and neither of them are going to make it past the first round.
The Minnesota Twins’ playoff hopes hinge on beating a team from the American League East, either the Yankees or the Tampa Bay Rays, neither of which the Twins had great success against this season. The Twins are 2-4 against the Yankees and 3-5 against the Rays this season.
The Twins must get them to come to Minneapolis.
The Twins can win on the road, that is true. But locking up home field advantage in the playoffs would greatly increase the chance of them making the World Series and even winning.
Resting the stars is important, but a World Series is more important and the Twins players would rather be a little tired in the early weeks of November after winning the World Series than be well rested and done playing baseball in October.
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