Post All-Star Break Crucial for MN Twins

You will be hard pressed to find a more crucial homestand for the Minnesota Twins than the 12 upcoming games.

Think about the magnitude of the Royals 4-game series, Indians 3-game series and the Tigers 4-game series that will happen at Target Field following the All-Star Break.

On June 1st, the Minnesota Twins were a staggering 16.5 games back behind the Cleveland Indians. Fast forward to July 11th and the Twins are in fourth place, 6.5 games back behind the first place Detroit Tigers. Our next 12 games include only AL Central rivals and the Twins are coming off a 3-4 series win over the White Sox. We are heading in to the All-Star Break on a run of 24-11 over the last 35 games.

While there is always the risk of losing momentum over the break, I think for the Twins it will be quite the opposite as the Twins will have time to fully recharge and get healthy. Delmon Young, Jason Kubel and Denard Span can use the time to gear up for another divisional crown.

Not to mention Alex Rodriguez will be out 4-6 weeks with knee surgery, which puts a smile on my face and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I guess we will know more after July 24th.