Minnesota Twins emerging as serious factor for Guardians in 2026 

Coming into the 2026 MLB season, it looked as if the Minnesota Twins were going to be a non-factor in the American League Central. 

But, after three weeks of the season, it looks like the Twins are going to be very much going to be a factor, as Minnesota entered the weekend leading the American League Central with a 11-8 record. 

And while there are plenty of instances of teams coming out of the gates hot before fizzling out as the season goes on (April mirages lead to May barrages, after all), Minnesota’s strong start shows that they’re going to play with a bit of enthusiasm this season despite boasting a roster that’s been decimated by trades and transactions.  

The Twins are going to be a thorn in the Guardians' side this season

After starting the season in a bit of a slump, the Twins have kicked things into high gear, as  they picked up a sweep of the Tigers last week before picking up series wins over the Blue Jays and Red Sox. 

Their strong play of late has largely been led by their offense, as they entered play on Thursday with 24 home runs and 103 runs scored — both of which were in the top-five in baseball. 

Sixteen of those runs came earlier this week in a game against the Boston Red Sox where the Twins hung 11 runs on Cy Young candidate Garrett Crochet in one of the more surprising results of the season. 

In total, Minnesota’s offense has been led by former Guardian Josh Bell, who entered the weekend with three home runs and 14 RBI. 

And although the Twins entered the weekend with a team ERA of 4.26, young starter Taj Bradley has started to look like an ace while Mick Abel is starting to turn things around after struggling with the Twins last season after being acquired at the deadline. 

The biggest thing to watch with Minnesota going forward will be how they’ll handle things when the injuries inevitably come. Royce Lewis has already hit the IL with a knee sprain (what else is new?), and it seems like a matter of time until he’s joined by the oft-injured Byron Buxton.

It’s also worth remembering that the Twins’ goal this year isn’t to win. While the players and coaches go out and try to win that day’s game, the front office seems to have a different agenda. They showed that last season when they dealt Carlos Correa away at last year’s trade deadline, and it doesn’t seem like anything has changed in the time since. 

The Guardians will get their first look at the Twins in a couple weeks when they welcome Minnesota to Progressive Field for a three-game series. That series is starting to look more and more important given it’s in Guardians’ best interest to rack up as many divisional wins as possible before the dog days of summer arrive. 

Even if the Guardians have bigger fish (or jungle cats) to fry in their division, the Twins aren’t going to be a slouch, either.

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