It's Labor Day in America and for some reason, the Twins are off. In the old days, the team would be playing a scheduled double header. Alas, I digress. I suppose even millionaire ballplayers deserve the day off. After all, they are union members.
Labor Day, along with Memorial Day and the Forth of July, are the traditional milestones in a baseball season. At this final marker, the Twins are locked in a heated division race with the Chicago White Sox, just half a game behind their bitter rivals. With about 25 games to play over the last month of the season, it's any one's guess which team will prevail. I'll try my best to handicap this race.
Offense: On paper, you'd expect the Sox to have the advantage yet it's the Twins who have the slight edge in runs scored (698 to 693). Chicago has a more powerful line up while the Twins hit for a higher average and have more speed. Although the two teams score runs in different ways, they end up at roughly the same place in terms of runs scored so I see the two offenses as pretty much even.
Defense: In the past, defense was almost always an advantage for the Twins. However, with many young players seeing regular playing time, the error tally is up for Minnesota. Chicago is not a great defensive team either. This is another area where I think the two teams are evenly matched.
Starting Pitching: The five guys who are currently starting games for the Twins (Baker, Slowey, Blackburn, Perkins and Liriano) have a combined record of 44-26 with ERAs ranging from 3.45-3.96. The White Sox starters (Danks, Floyd, Buehrle, Vasquez and Contreras) have a combined record of 53-42 with ERAs ranging from 3.30-4.54. The young Twins starters are more talented while the Sox starters are more experienced with Buehrle and Contreras being members of the 2005 World Series Champions. Here, I give a slight edge to the Twins.
Relief Pitching: While the Twins bullpen has not been as strong this year as in the past, it's still pretty good. The key man is their closer Joe Nathan, who's one of the best in the game. Bobby Jenks is a fine closer in his own right but he's not on a par with Nathan. This is another area where I give Minnesota the advantage.
Managers and Intangibles: While Ron Gardenhire is a candidate for Manager of the Year, Ozzie Guillen has a World Series Ring after winning it all with the Sox in 2005. The Twins have 12 home games and 13 road games remaining. The Sox schedule is evenly split with 13 games at home and on the road. One important factor might be the fact that the Twins will host the White Sox during the huge three game series during the final week of the season.
So, after looking at the two teams, I have to give the nod to the Twins due to their slightly superior pitching, especially their starting pitching. However, I believe it's going to be an extremely close race right up until the end.
