Fifteen Games, No Buxton, No Margin

Already wrote the Buxton piece two days ago. Worth noting where things stand now: the Twins are 68-79, sitting 4.5 games back of the final wild-card spot with an elimination number of nine and 15 games to play. The math is not impossible, but it is close.

The lineup will have to find runs without him. Buxton hit 17 home runs in just 50 games this year — that kind of production rate doesn't get replaced off the bench. Alan Roden is the next name up in center, and he's been a fine depth piece, not a power source. Ryan Jeffers, Austin Martin, and Luke Keaschall will need to carry more weight in a stretch where Minnesota has been scoring fewer than three runs a game over its last ten.

The rotation, at least, is more intact than it was a week ago. Taj Bradley is 12-6 with a 3.70 ERA and has been the one constant all year. Joe Ryan is back and working through it. That's a functional top two for a team that needs to win roughly 11 of its final 15 just to have a conversation about October.

It's a long shot. The Twins have been here before this season — short on bodies, longer on hope than probability — and they've mostly tread water. Treading water doesn't get you to the postseason from 4.5 back with two weeks left.