MLB Playoffs 2017: Five bold playoff predictions

3. The Twins reach the ALCS

It’s called a bold prediction, right? The Twins have made this run in the second half without their big young bopper, Miguel Sano. Rumors today are swirling that the Twins may get him back for the Wild Card game, and that is huge. Sano had already set career highs in home runs, and tied his career high in walks while posting a .870 OPS, while making his first all-star team. Long story short, Sano was having a career year, and really gives the Twins an imposing presence in the lineup.

Couple that in with Eddie Rosario having a breakout year, and Byron Buxton slowly becoming the player everybody expected him to be, makes for a dangerous lineup. Jorge Polanco had a dynamite second half as well, picking up the slack when Sano went down. The pitching is suspect, but if you just slug your whole way through, the pitching only needs to keep you in the game, at best. If Rosario and Buxton keep hitting, and Sano comes back, this team can make a run.

It certainly won’t be easy, though, as the wild card game is going to be at Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees are tough to beat. The Twins, though, will go all out, and give it everything they have, because what else do they have to lose? After all, this team did lose over 100 games last year.