You can be forgiven if you have not thought about the American League Central in a while. There was no one in the division with a record over .500 as recently as July 14, it has been nearly a month since any team was closer than five games of the division leader and, let’s face it, when the second-place team trades away one of its best pitchers at the Trade Deadline, it’s difficult to invest too much emotional capital in the daily push-and-pull of the division standings.

That’s why, when people talk about the top contenders in the American League, the Minnesota Twins rarely come up. This despite that fact that they’re guaranteed to host a playoff series, and that, quietly, they’ve been excellent in the second half, playing at a 92-win pace.

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Now that they’ve pulled away from the Guardians (and the Tigers, I guess) in the Central, it might be time to take a closer look at the Twins. Because while we were all paying attention to the AL East and AL West, the Twins may quietly be working themselves into a legitimate World Series threat.

What’s the argument for the Twins? Here are five reasons you should not write them off -- and why their potential opponents should keep a closer eye on them in October.

1. They might have the best 1-2 rotation punch among AL postseason teams.

The best reason to be excited about the Twins is the top of their rotation. Whatever sadness Twins fans might have felt watching Luis Arraez charming everyone (and knocking the ball all over the field) in Miami this year, they wouldn’t reverse trading him for Pablo López in a second. For the first time in his career, López has actually gotten stronger as the season has gone along; he has a 2.66 ERA in the second half and struck out 14 in eight innings of two-hit baseball in his last start against the Mets.

Sonny Gray has been even better, with a 2.96 ERA overall, in large part due to his ability to keep the ball out of the stands. (He has given up just seven homers in 167 innings.) Maybe you can make an argument for the Astros’ Framber Valdez-Justin Verlander combo, but losing Max Scherzer for the rest of the season knocks the Rangers out of any discussion. Thus: Is there any other combo of Game 1 and Game 2 starters you’d want more than López and Gray? This is arguably the best 1-2 punch the Twins have had heading into a postseason since the days of Johan Santana and Brad Radke … maybe better.

2. Carlos Correa is slowly starting to come along.

After what would be fairly classified as a tumultuous offseason for Correa, all eyes were on the shortstop, and his health, from Opening Day. You can’t help but wonder if that has worn on him a bit as he struggled most of the way, putting up the worst numbers of his career and making some fans in Queens and San Francisco breathe sighs of relief.

But, shhhhhh … Correa is starting to hit the ball hard again. September has been the best month of the season for him so far, with an .850 OPS, and he has only grounded into one double play -- a major issue for him this year. Correa has had enough moments in October to show that he’s a serious force to be reckoned with on the biggest stage, and a Twins team that hasn’t had the superstar(s) it was hoping for couldn’t ask for a better time for him to pick it up.

• Has Correa found a fix in red-hot start to September?

3. They’re getting contributions from some unlikely pieces.

Actually, there’s another former No. 1 overall Draft pick who is raking for the Twins. That would be Royce Lewis, who has been smoking hot since returning to the roster on Aug. 15. In his first 25 games back through Tuesday, he hit .286/.358/.582 with eight homers, 29 RBIs and four steals – he’s been an injection of energy right when the Twins needed it.

• Lewis hits his THIRD grand slam in 8 games

But you don’t have to have been a No. 1 pick to be a huge part of what the Twins are doing. Rookie Edouard Julien has been one of the best stories in the league all year, Donovan Solano is enjoying a nice bounceback year at age 35 and Max Kepler is hitting like it’s 2019 again. The Twins keep coming at you from odd angles you didn’t see coming … which is what teams who win in the postseason do.

4. The bullpen is top-heavy, but substantial.

You’d like the Twins to be a little deeper, but if you’re down one run in the ninth inning, there aren’t many pitchers you’d want to see less than Jhoan Duran, who can be a little wild but sometimes in the exact way that makes hitters uncomfortable. Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar and Emilio Pagán are solid options as well, and it’s also possible you could see, say, Kenta Maeda play an October role here, too. The nice thing is that the Twins, because they essentially have their postseason ticket punched already, can play around in the final two weeks to find the right combination. But the arms are there.

5. They’re due.

Well, here’s the big one. Twins fans don’t need to be reminded of this fact, and it feels even a little cruel to repeat it out loud, but it must be said once more: The Twins have lost a truly staggering 18 consecutive postseason games, spanning all the way back to 2004. (Ruben freaking Sierra played in the last postseason game the Twins won. His rookie year was 1986!) That sort of streak is so absurd that it doesn’t quite seem real.

The Twins would like to win a postseason series at some point, but it all has to start with just one game. The Twins look likely to play the Blue Jays, Rangers or Mariners in that first series, and with Gray and López on the mound in front of a roaring Target Field crowd, you’d have to think they’d get at least one of those, right? And once you win one … well, maybe that’s what finally gets the ball rolling. That’s the hope anyway. And no matter what: The Twins will not have to face the Yankees, a team that’s responsible for 13 of those 18 losses. It can’t hurt!