The Cleveland Guardians cannot afford to slip up against the Minnesota Twins

With their disappointing series against the Boston Red Sox now in the rearview mirror, the Cleveland Guardians must look forward to getting back on track. What lies ahead of them is a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins, presenting Cleveland with an opportunity that they cannot afford to mess up.

Cleveland currently sits in second place in the American League Central, owning a 15-12 record that puts them 2.5 games behind the surprising Detroit Tigers. While hyperfocusing on division standings this early season is more often than not a useless exercise, it is important for the Guardians to at least keep pace with Detroit and ensure they do not fall too far back. As the saying goes, a division cannot be won in April, but it can be lost. Luckily for the Guardians, this series with the Twins might be exactly what they need.

Despite many feeling that Minnesota was one of the better teams in the AL Central, the Twins have come out with a record that is an accurate indicator of their true talent level (12-16). The reality here is that the Twins are not a good team, and for some reason, very few people recognize that fact. Cleveland has to take advantage of their matchup with a team destined to finish in fourth place, ahead of only one of the worst teams in all of sports (Chicago White Sox).

There is more to just beyond Cleveland's record at stake here. The Guardians have not really been playing their best baseball as of late, and finding a way back toward normalcy would go a long way here. Not only would putting together a solid performance against the Twins result in a much-needed series win, it could rollover and allow them to compete with and even defeat some of the more difficult matchups on their schedule in the coming weeks. Should things play out in this manner, it will not take long for the Guardians to retake their rightful spot atop the AL Central. But first, they must take care of business against the Twins, a task that should be able to manage.