MINNEAPOLIS – The Trade Deadline is in the rearview mirror, and now it’s time for the finishing kick in the Major League season. There are 41 games left for the Twins in 2026.
And unlike a year ago, those games will determine whether there’s postseason baseball at Target Field. As the season enters its final quarter, here’s a look at six things to watch in the Twins’ push for their first playoff berth since 2023.
1. Joe Ryan's health
Well, this is the big one, isn’t it? It appears Byron Buxton's return to the active roster is, if not imminent, awfully close. But Ryan’s status is quite a bit murkier as he attempts to return from a left glute strain. As of Tuesday, he’s throwing off flat ground, but doesn’t have a date for getting up on a mound yet, saying he’s going strictly day by day rather than having a particular time frame in mind.
On Monday night, general manager Jeremy Zoll said that the Twins hope to start building Ryan up soon enough that his ramp-up doesn’t take too long. After all, we’re in the final quarter of the season. So for the time being, it’s kind of an unknown as to when exactly Ryan will feel good enough with the injury and straightened out enough with his delivery to get back on the mound in a big league game.
2. Kaelen Culpepper's adjustment
There’s been a lot to like about Culpepper in the very early going. He homered in his debut on Friday and reached base three times in his second game on Saturday. But hitting in the Major Leagues is hard. And while Culpepper is a very promising prospect who was playing very well at Triple-A St. Paul, he wasn’t completely dominating the level in the way that suggests that he’s going to step right in and rake without an adjustment period in the Majors.
He brings energy and confidence and a spark, not to mention some very exciting tools. What we don’t know yet is how he’s going to perform in his first taste of the big leagues. If he can play a strong shortstop and lengthen the Twins’ lineup, it will be critical for their postseason push.
3. The Lewissance
Even as the Twins’ offense has stagnated since the All-Star break, Royce Lewis has surged. He has a has a .365/.394/.619 line over his past 16 games, and even his outs have been loud.
It’s not like we didn’t know Lewis was capable of performing at a high level, but it had been a while since he had a streak like this.
The question, of course, is how long he can keep it up. If Lewis really has unlocked something, it would be a massive boost for a lineup that needs it.
4. Can they get the bats going -- against righties?
It may seem to you -- it has seemed to me -- that the Twins have been especially stifled by left-handed pitching recently, but that’s not actually the case. They’ve had a considerably harder time against right-handers.
Several of their right-handed hitters, starting with, but not limited to Lewis, have been finding something lately. Luke Keaschall has been showing encouraging signs. Ryan Jeffers has continued producing. The previously slumping Austin Martin may be coming around. It’s the lefties who are scuffling, with Kody Clemens and Trevor Larnach among those whose numbers have dipped since the break. The Twins entered Tuesday night with a dismal .643 OPS against righties in the second half, the fifth-worst mark in the Majors. That will have to get better.
5. The schedule
Two weeks will probably go an extremely long way toward determining the Twins’ postseason fate. From Aug. 28 through Sept. 9, Minnesota only has games against the two teams currently ahead of it in the American League Central. It’s three games each at home against the White Sox and Tigers, then three each on the road against those two foes.
There are still 2 1/2 weeks of season after that stretch ends, but we’ll have a much better idea of how things are going to turn out by the time the Twins are flying home from Detroit.
6. Scoreboard watching
There’s one thing that the Twins absolutely can’t control, that will play a large part in whether they see the postseason or not in 2026: the teams around them in the standings.
It’s been a while since Twins fans had reason to scoreboard watch, but if you need permission, here it is. This team is in fact in a postseason race, and if you aren’t already, it’s time to start keeping an eye on how the White Sox, Guardians Rangers and Tigers perform -- and maybe a few other teams as well.