In Baseball, you’d rather be playing well in the month of September than in April, so you have some momentum going into the playoffs. However, when it comes to making the playoffs, April games count just as much as those in September. The first few weeks of the Twins’ season could prove to be pretty important when it comes to how the season is going to turn out. Let’s take a look at the tough matchups they’ll be facing right away.

@ Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays improved greatly over last season with the additions of A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan, Troy Glaus, and Lyle Overbay. Some are suggesting that they could actually win the AL East, a division that houses the Yankees and Red Sox. The Twins are lucky in that A.J. Burnett will start the season on the DL. The first game of the season will involve a matchup between Roy Halladay and Johan Santana, two preseason favorites for AL Cy Young.

@ Cleveland Indians

The Indians are a team of young up-and-comers and they’re going to contend for the AL Central along with the Twins and the White Sox. The Twins are going to have to play better within the division to have any chance of making the playoffs. Good pitching can shut down good hitting, so I feel if the Twins can improve their offense this year, they should matchup well against the Indians. The loss of Millwood, Elarton and Crisp will probably make the Indians a worse team than they were last year, but they’ll still be a strong ballclub.

Oakland Athletics

The A’s are most people’s pick to win the AL West. Like the Twins, they have very good pitching. The Twins had a 4-6 record against Oakland last year, so if they hope to reverse that they’re going to have to take 2 of 3 from Oakland this time around.

New York Yankees

The Twins will host the Yankees over Easter weekend. The holiday may be bad for attendance, but hopefully it’ll be good for the Twins. The Twins managed to split the season series with the Yankees last season, and it wouldn’t be so bad if they did the same this year.

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are another strong west-coast team that the Twins struggled with last season. The Angels are going for their 3rd straight AL West title, and the team is still capable of doing so. The Angles are a well-rounded team led by slugger Vladimir Guerrero. Winning 2 of 3 from the Angels would be a good way to cap off the Twins’ first homestand of the season.

@ Chicago White Sox

The defending World Series Champion White Sox will bring a potentially better team than last year’s to the table in 2006. Rookie Brian Anderson will replace Aaron Rowand in center, and Jim Thome has been brought in to DH. Javier Vasquez has been brought in to round out a very strong starting rotation. While many think last season was a fluke, the White Sox will no doubt be very good again this season and are the favorite to again win the AL Central.

If the Twins can play well through the first 6 series of the season, they’ll be on cruise control for the rest of the month. They have a series against a terrible Kansas City team and then complete the month against Detroit. Detroit should be better than it was last year, but they’re still a year or two away from being a contending team.