For the last several years we have been hearing how weak the American League Central Division teams are compared to the American League East Division teams and American League West Division teams. The American League Central has not been represented in the World Series since 2016 when the Cleveland Indians lost the World Series in seven games to the Chicago Cubs.
However in 2024, there are three teams in the American League Central in playoff contention. The Cleveland Guardians (changed their name from Indians for the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season) in fact have the best record in the entire American League at 71 wins and 49 losses. They lead the American League East leading New York Yankees by half a game and the Baltimore Orioles by a whole game.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals hold down two of the three wildcard spots. The Twins are at 67 wins and 53 losses, and the Royals are at 66 wins and 55 losses. Minnesota leads the Boston Red Sox by three games for the final playoff spot, while Kansas City leads Boston by a game and a half.
Yes, the American League Central cellar dwellers Chicago White Sox are the laughing stock in Major League Baseball at the moment. They are historically bad at 29 wins and 92 losses, and should easily reach the century mark in losses by the end of August. However, the fourth place Detroit Tigers are showing some promise, and just yesterday clobbered the Seattle Mariners 15-1.
Of the top three teams in the AL Central, we need to focus on the Royals. Just last year the Royals were at 38 wins and 81 losses, or 43 games below .500 by August 13, 2023. Now in 2024, the Royals are a full 27 games better. Why? The most glaring reason is pitching. As a unit, the Royals had a horrible earned run average in 2023 of 5.17. This year it is at 3.90, with four starting pitchers (Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and Michael Wacha) all having an earned run average of 3.50 or less.
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