First Look: AL Central

American League Central

            Today we take a look at the AL Central and see what the teams look like at the current moment.  As I’ve stated in the last blog this is a quick look at what the team has done to improve and did it help the team this year.  So without further delay we shall start with last years Central champs the Detroit Tigers.

Detroit Tigers:

Pitching- At first looks this teams starting pitching look amazing.  With Verlander still leading the team as their Ace and with Scherzer, Sanchez and Porcello behind him this shapes to be one of the strongest if not the strongest SP rotations in the league.  Now I’ve mentioned the SP’s strength and how that hasn’t changed from last year but the weakness of the Tigers wasn’t the SP it was the RP and lets look at the changes they made there.  Joe Nathan was a major plus to a RP staff that sorely needed that end of game arm or just a shut down arm.  Drew Smyly added some much needed relief last year and he should be fine this year IF he doesn’t win a rotation spot.  Other than that the team hasn’t really improved, Phil Coke is still there but that’s not a plus for them and that seems to be the case for many of the other potential pitchers.  This could still be the major problem area for the team but we shall see what Nathan can add.  Overall the team is a mixed bag in pitching and is a major wait and see.

Hitting- As good as it was before but hasn’t really improved.  This seems like a bad thing not to improve but look at the team and you realize they didn’t have that many areas to improve.  The addition of Ian Kinsler could actually hurt since Prince Fielder is the better hitter in overall talent but adds a major boom to defense of the team.  Jose Inglesias surprised many people last year by hitting for a better average than most thought he could and if he could repeat and keep his amazing glove work up that is a major win for this team.  Miguel Cabrera…The Outfield looks strong but the worry is in LF, they don’t have a solid option that could fill that role 100% but a platoon of Andy Dirks, Nick Castellanos and Rajai Davis could fill that role well. 

Overall the offense looks the same but that doesn’t mean they’ll be worse.

Kansas City Royals:

Pitching- This is a team that surprised many in 2013 and I predict that they will do it again with strong pitching.  James Shields is a very underrated pitcher and is a great role model to the younger pitchers like Danny Duffy and Clayton Mortensen.  The one way they could improve more is if they added Ervin Santana back into the fold.  I do feel that the rotation gets weaker with his loss and getting him back could add a lot to this team but Jason Vargas is a good backup.  The relief has strength and may be the main strength of the team as well with Greg Holland, Luke Hochever Aaron Crow leading the way.  Kelvin Herrera and Louis Coleman add more depth to a strong bullpen.  Overall the pitching looks strong and could be a strong season for this team if the hitting can match.

Hitting- Unlike the pitching the hitting is a little more up in the air.  They have tons of talent with Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer and many more have such great talent but for some reason they can’t find that grove at the same time.  If they all click this is a dangerous team to face for any team.  It’s hard to gauge this team since the potential is off the charts but the stats don’t say much at the moment.  Overall I love this offense if they can click but we shall have to see how it works out for them.

Cleveland Indians:

Pitching- In a word, mixed.  They have good starters like Justin Masterson and Danny Salazar but many of them are just slightly above average but they have many slightly above average pitchers, which is an advantage.  While this seems like an insult the team has a depth that other teams don’t have.  Overall it’s not much to talk about, while they won’t rock the world they will stay in the race with their pitching at the moment.

Hitting- Very much the same as the pitching, better overall than the pitching but nothing super special.  This team is very much a mix of the Tigers and Royals since they don’t have the talent to beat each but they have more talent across the board to stay in the race.  Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana are the real stand out stars for this team and they have a lot of talent, Kipnis had a break out season last year and Santana is poised to have one this year.  Overall they’re ok nothing terrible and nothing outstanding but don’t let that fool you or they will hurt you.

Minnesota Twins

Pitching- They signed Ricky Nolasco to the largest Free Agent contract in club history.  I think that should tell you how good the pitching is for this team.  To be fair this team has some talent in Glenn Perkins, Brian Duensing and Scott Diamond but it’s really nothing very special.  Perkins is the best of this bunch and he actually is a very talented pitcher, he’ll repeat as the teams closer and is someone to keep a look on.  Overall a very large question mark, we shall see if any of the you guys can step it up but we shall see.

Hitting- Has way more talent here than the pitching but I want to take a “wait and see” approach to the actual level of talent they have.  Joe Mauer is of course a major threat to any team and a legitimate .300+ hitter every year but teams can’t ignore players like Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks.  Both of who have talent and lots of it but wont carry the team.  Overall underwhelming and wont expect to see them on any Power Rankings listings unless it’s the bottom 5.

Chicago White Sox:

Pitching- It’s the Twins with Chris Sale, there’s not much here and I don’t see that changing soon.  The talent is there and they have more MLB talent than the Twins have at the moment but it’s going to be a long season for this team’s pitching.  Overall a disappointment in all areas in pitching.

Hitting- The team is better than the pitching and way better than the Twins in all areas but not up to snuff with the rest of the division.  They have good hitters like Jeff Keppinger, Adam Eaton, Avisail Garcia and a few others.  It’s a lot of you hitters and hitters that I see progressing forward this year and making a name for themselves.  I actually am keeping an eye on Eaton and Garcia since they have great talent and could make a break out this season.  Overall not terrible but this is not a championship caliber offense yet.