It’s August 18 and the Minnesota Twins are in the middle of an extremely successful summer. At 70-53, the only thing between the Twins and an American League playoff berth would be a meltdown of the most epic fashion. The type of late season collapse that would go directly to the top of Minnesota sports history books.

But more than likely, this is a playoff team. Entering Sunday, the Twins sit two games up on the 2nd AL Wildcard spot and 4.5 games up on Boston, the only team not currently in the playoff field, who still stands a chance.

2024 American League playoff picture has a lot of AL Central in it

Meanwhile, the American League Central Division race is far from over. The Twins trail the Cleveland Guardians by just two games. The Royals, who hold the third and final AL Wildcard spot, are just four games back.

If the Minnesota Twins Can Just Limp to the Regular Season Finish Line…

The Minnesota Twins are one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning five of their last six games, including three straight vs the Texas Rangers (going for four) this weekend. Kansas City, winners of three straight, haven’t been bad either (other than losing two of three to the Twins last week). Their division rival Cleveland Guardians, on the other hand, have lost nine of their last 14, including losses in their last two games.

Cleveland Guardians are lucky, Minnesota Twins (surprise) are not…

And if luck charts tells us anything, the Guardians will either enter the 2024 MLB postseason as the luckiest team in all of baseball, or they are due for one of those major league caliber late-season meltdowns I mentioned earlier in this article.

According to one MLB simulator’s “Pot O’ Gold” chart, there is no more fortunate team in the league than the one playing home games in Cleveland, OH. The Twins, meanwhile, rank as the 8th unluckiest team. Shocker.

Updated pot-o-gold chart that sums the lucky games (+1) with the unlucky games (-1) in 2024 for each team. #Guardians so far the luckiest and #Braves the unluckiest#MLB #Statcast #MLBSim #Baseball pic.twitter.com/0EhYxrVnFX

— MLB Deserve-To-Win-O-Meter (@mlb_simulator) August 18, 2024

The funniest (maybe saddest?) part about this chart is that it does not factor in player injuries. This is about teams that get on base off balls in play that they should not reach base on, vs those that can’t buy a hit, even when they hit pee rockets off the bat.

The Twins Were Right About Joe Ryan’s Injury

One of the reasons why Cleveland has been so good this season is because they’ve remained remarkably healthy. All of their big hitters and most of their best pitchers have been available for almost the entirety of the 2024 summer. As we all know, that has not been the case in Minnesota.

If the Twins can continue to play well, and get some of their best players back, it appears very likely they could pass the Guardians in the Central, which would more than likely mean a first round bye in the playoffs.

Mentioned in this article:Cleveland Guardians

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Alex Antetokounmpo is coming off a season where he played in the G League for the Wisconsin Herd.

He averaged 5.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest while shooting 32.0% from the field in 18 regular season games.

On Saturday, it was announced that Antetokounmpo has signed with KK Podgorica (h/t HoopsRumors and BasketNews).

Via Eurohoops Turkiye (translated to English): “🚨 Alex Antetokounmpo, the youngest of the Antetokounmpo brothers, will play for KK Podgorica Bemax of the 2nd Adriatic League next season.”

Antetokounmpo went undrafted in 2021, and he has yet to appear in an NBA game.

He is the brother NBA Champions Giannis and Thanasis.

The 22-year-old has spent time with the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks organizations.

Over three seasons in the G League, Antetokounmpo has career averages of 5.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest while shooting 36.7% from the field and 24.7% from the three-point range in 65 games (eight starts).

In addition to the G League, Antetokounmpo also spent time playing in Lithuania last season.

While he hasn’t put up big numbers (in the G League), he is still so young (and has such a notable NBA family) that he will be a name to watch over the next few seasons.

Via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on August 19, 2018: “Giannis’ 16 year old brother Alex Antetokounmpo measured 6’5 barefoot with a ridiculous 7’2 wingspan at the Basketball Without Borders Europe camp in Belgrade. Pretty sure we’ll be talking more about him down the road.”

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Cleveland, OH – Severe storms moved through the Cleveland area Saturday evening, leaving downed trees, hail, and flooding in their wake. The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that the storms, which have since weakened and exited the area, caused significant damage across parts of the region.

According to the NWS Cleveland, large branches were brought down by high winds, while hail and flash flooding affected several areas. Residents are urged to report any storm impacts to help the NWS gather comprehensive data.

The week ahead promises cooler temperatures, with highs only reaching the mid-70s on Sunday. Monday will bring another chance of rain with a high near 70°F, while the remainder of the week will see mostly clear skies with temperatures staying in the 60s and low 70s. The forecast predicts a significant warm-up by next weekend, with temperatures potentially reaching the low 80s by Saturday and upper 80s by Sunday.