There's a new No. 1 with just over a month left in the regular season
By Matt Snyder
• 2 min read
The American League Central is ready for its close-up and three teams deserve the spotlight.
In fact, three teams are tracking toward making the playoffs from a division that many people believed was the weakest in baseball heading into the season. Even the fourth-place team is hovering close to .500. Sure, there's one historically bad team that is somewhat propping up the others, but the Guardians, Royals and Twins are legitimate contenders for the American League pennant.
The Guardians have had control of this thing from nearly the start of the season. They've only trailed in the race for six days and they never trailed more than a game and a half. They haven't been out of first place since before the action started on Sunday, April 14. They grew the lead to as high as nine games, but the Twins and Royals have been so good that the Guardians just can't shake free.
That last sentence is accurate in framing the Royals and Twins as quality competitors, but we do need further context on the Guardians possibly blowing a nine-game lead. They've only been a game over .500 since the start of June. Since June 25, the Guardians have gone 24-29. Now, they banked enough of a cushion to keep them in first place, but they probably need to start playing like it's April or May in order to hold onto this lead.
Starting right now.
The Royals, who have gone 20-13 since the All-Star break behind a great rotation and a stellar MVP candidate in Bobby Witt Jr., will get SEVEN cracks at the Royals in the next 10 days. It starts with a doubleheader in Cleveland on Monday.
As I said, the AL Central is ready for its close-up.
The Twins cannot be forgotten, of course, as they'll hope that the result of those seven Royals-Guardians bouts ends up something like 4-3 Royals. They also have three games left against the Royals and four against the Guardians.
Perhaps most importantly is a point in favor of the Guardians: The Royals and Twins are both done playing the pathetic White Sox. It's possible to argue that their 12-1 record against perhaps the worst baseball team in modern history has given them quite the assist on their playoff credentials, but they also deserve kudos for taking care of business.
The Guardians have three games remaining against the White Sox and have only gone 5-5 so far against them. If they can't hold on in this divisional race, they'll want a few of those losses back.
One thing alone doesn't determine a race but instead a tapestry of events. How the three AL Central teams fared against the White Sox in addition to how they fare against each other here in the coming weeks are a major part of the collage.
And it all starts Monday in Cleveland. Let's rock.
Biggest Movers
6 Diamondbacks
3 Rays
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers | The Dodgers have now won 15 of their last 21 games and have the best record in baseball. They will have to continue patching the rotation together, but the offense has gotten healthy and the talent is really taking over here. If they hold onto the top spot next week, we'll do a deeper dive. | 1 | 81-54 |
| 2 | Yankees | The only players to reach 60 homers more than once are Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and we now know plenty about that pesky little * some people like to throw on those. Aaron Judge is on pace to get to 60 for a second time without one. | 1 | 79-56 |
| 3 | Phillies | I recently saw someone make a comparison between the 2023 Eagles and 2024 Phillies. I'm gonna guess a lot of Philly fans are growing pretty damn restless here. The Phillies are now 14-20 since the All-Star break, though the series win in Kansas City is a possibly good sign. | 2 | 79-56 |
| 4 | Brewers | Brice Turang has 37 stolen bases. The Brewers' haven't had a 40-plus steal season since Jonathan Villar swiped 62 in 2016. | 1 | 79-56 |
| 5 | Diamondbacks | The sweep at Tampa Bay last weekend was but a blip on the radar. The Snakes are back on the prowl, having won six straight. | 6 | 76-59 |
| 6 | Orioles | What an absolute disaster of a trade deadline for Mike Elias. Maybe he should go back to prospect hugging? | 2 | 78-58 |
| 7 | Guardians | Remember when Dennis Eckersley won Cy Young and MVP as a closer? He had a 1.91 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 2.9 WAR. Emmanuel Clase right now has a 0.61 ERA, 0.66 WHIP and 3.7 WAR. | 1 | 77-58 |
| 8 | Padres | Jackson Merrill has five game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning or later. Jurickson Profar leads the NL in win probability added. Call 'em the Clutch Brothers! | 1 | 77-60 |
| 9 | Twins | Griffin Jax now has 13 straight scoreless outings and he's overall been one of the very best relievers in baseball this season. Not only that, but with 21 holds and eight saves, he's incredibly versatile, working the seventh, eighth or ninth. | 1 | 73-61 |
| 10 | Royals | Some of it comes in the form of opportunity (the head-to-heads against the Guardians and Twins), but the Royals have one of the toughest remaining schedules in all of baseball by opponent winning percentage. Their only series against sub-.500 teams left are vs. the Tigers, Pirates and Nationals and none of those are total pushovers. | 1 | 75-61 |
| 11 | Astros | Excluding the nonsense that was 2020, the Astros are on pace for their worst season since 2016 and they are still so scary as we look ahead to the playoffs. | 1 | 73-62 |
| 12 | Braves | Reynaldo López doesn't have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, but he continues to flirt with an ERA under 2.00. The only pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA and at least 125 innings pitched in the last decade are Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Blake Snell, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Jake Arrieta. | -- | 74-61 |
| 13 | Mets | It's easy to forget, but the Mets were 11 games under .500 in early June. It's been an incredible run since then, even if they miss the playoffs. | 1 | 71-64 |
| 14 | Red Sox | Their inability to win at home is going to cost them the playoffs. The Red Sox are 29-35 in Fenway this season. | 1 | 70-65 |
| 15 | Mariners | It's awfully tough to get your manager fired in a season when you once had a 10-game lead, but I'll be damned if the Mariners didn't pull it off. Quite a feat. | -- | 69-66 |
| 16 | Giants | Farhan Zaidi has been the president of baseball operations since 2018. The team is now mediocre for the third straight season. How much more time does he need here? | -- | 68-68 |
| 17 | Cubs | If you didn't see Pete Crow-Armstrong's inside-the-park home run on Friday, do yourself a favor and go find a clip. It's so fun watching him skate around the bases. | 1 | 69-66 |
| 18 | Tigers | Much like the Twins and Royals, the Tigers have beaten up on the White Sox, too. They are now 8-1 against them. | 1 | 68-68 |
| 19 | Cardinals | It's likely too little, too late, but the Brewers and Twins series wins qualify as a sign of life for the Cardinals. They are locked in a war of mediocre attrition with the Cubs and Reds for second place in the NL Central. | 2 | 67-68 |
| 20 | Rays | The Rays are very unlikely to make a playoff run, but they will figure heavily in the race the next several weeks. Look at their schedule: Mariners, Padres, Twins, Orioles, Phillies, Guardians and Red Sox until Sept. 20. | 3 | 66-68 |
| 21 | Blue Jays | Bowden Francis continues to look great as a starter. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning on Saturday and he was hot before that. | 1 | 66-71 |
| 22 | Pirates | Their road to contention next season is with the top three in the rotation. That's why it was so good to see Mitch Keller bounce back with a great outing this past week after two awful starts. | 1 | 62-72 |
| 23 | Reds | If you claim to be a Reds fan but go out of your way to tell people how not-very-good Joey Votto was on social media, you're a terrible fan. Yes, I had a few of those this past week. Gimme a break. | 3 | 64-72 |
| 24 | Rangers | It's pretty reasonable to believe the offense bounces back in a big way next season with much more production from the likes of Adolis García, Evan Carter, Josh Jung and Wyatt Langford. | -- | 63-72 |
| 25 | Nationals | C.J. Abrams is three steals away from 30 for the second straight season. The only players in franchise history to get to 30 steals twice before age 25 have been Delino DeShields, Tim Raines and Trea Turner. | -- | 61-74 |
| 26 | Athletics | We're now down to just 13 Major League Baseball games left in Oakland. | -- | 59-76 |
| 27 | Angels | The California Angels made the playoffs three times in 32 seasons. The Anaheim Angels made the playoffs twice in eight years and that included a World Series title. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made the playoffs five times in 11 years. The Los Angeles Angels have made the playoffs zero times in 13 years (including 1961-64). Maybe go back to one of the previous iterations? I don't know, whatever. | -- | 55-80 |
| 28 | Rockies | In the first 30 years of Rockies baseball, they lost 100 games zero times. They are now overwhelmingly likely to hit the 100-loss threshold in back-to-back seasons. | -- | 50-86 |
| 29 | Marlins | We've all heard of (and loved) the Road Rockies, but may I introduce you to the Home Marlins? They are now 25-44 in loanDepot Park. Yes, they play like a 103-loss team at home. | -- | 49-86 |
| 30 | White Sox | 100 losses before September and they weren't even trying to tank. This is truly the worst season in baseball history. | -- | 31-105 |
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