AL Central: Contender Or Pretender?

I have a hard time with both the Indians and Twins being real contenders. Cleveland doesn't have a lineup, and while the Twins' lineup could rebound, we don't have a bullpen. Once the White Sox go on a winning streak, they're going to be hard to catch. 

I chose the Royals as the team that could surprise this year in the AL (even though I picked the Angels to win the West). They have some very good young players and pitchers who, if they all come together, could make a run. While I don't expect them to win the division, winning early in the season gives them the belief that they can go on. And Hunter Dozier hasn't begun to hit just yet. It would not surprise me if they finished third in the Central.

The Tigers are also a team of the future as they have the best young pitchers in the division and in their minor leagues. I expect them to be contenders within 2 years if their management makes the right decisions. They already have the best manager in the division..

I wouldn't write off KC so quickly. Many doubted the Twins hot start in 2019 and wrote them off. KC could continue to surprise people throughout the season. We can't take anyone for granted.

I believe I said earlier that if KC's young pitching holds up they have a good chance to win the division this year. They had been snake bit losing lot's of close games last year.  Their Offense has always been pretty solid but starting pitching and the pen needed help.  While I don't think they will keep up the current pace I don't see them falling far off of it unless their pitching falters. I don't think they have a ton of pitching depth so injuries could hurt them.  At any rate I don't see them as pretenders.

The Twins have had a lot of really odd things happen to lose games.  Colome is pretty much directly responsible for I think 4 losses himself granted the defense cratered on him as well in some spots but he hasn't helped.  The bullpen looks unreliable at worst and shaky at best.  It looks like the Achilles heal for the team this year.  If they can somehow fix the pen maybe they are contenders otherwise look for lots of heartache at the end of games.

Indians still don't have an offense and other teams in the division are starting to get better pitching.  I think they are a long shot to take the division.

Chicago still looks like the team to beat to me. The lineup is solid and the pitching is there.  Again I question their depth when it comes to pitching but they might have enough offense to cover for it anyway.

Not as bullish on the Twins as I was to start to the season but if they can fix the pen I think they can hang at the top.  Right now it is just hard to see that happening.

I don't think Detroit is a pretender.  Their record reflects the consensus thought on what type of season they would have.

We'll get a good idea of the Kansas City situation this weekend.  Duffy and Singer have been pretty good so far.  Singer is a talent and could be figuring it out.  Duffy is probably more likely to be in a hot stretch, but perhaps he will have a career year. Until yesterday, the Twins weren't exactly pegging lefties, so the question of pretender should be on full display Saturday.

It's very dangerous to underestimate the Royals...

I can't wait to see the Royals play the Twins and see what they really have in KC. Should be fun to watch.

White Sox: Contender. Two to three of their starters will regress but the rotation will still be good especially if they give Kopech more starts. Their hitting has been good but less power than I’d expect so far. If they increase the power they could be the 2020 version of the Twins.

Indians: Their pitching has been Bieber and not much else no matter what Civale’s ERA says. Hitting is bad but I think it will improve. If the rotation keeps this up they won’t even be a .500 team at the end of the year and we’ll have nothing to envy anymore.

Royals: average to slightly above average pitching (mostly three starters) combined with average offense. I can easily see them being .500 and maybe even better than that.

Tigers: 100 losses

Twins: Average pitching at best (someone stop using a Maeda voodoo doll). Average hitting if they’re  lucky. Buxton, Cruz, Arraez and Donaldson are carrying the team and if they’re not hitting then the team won’t win. Looks like a .500 team unless Maeda goes back to normal..not even 2020, just normal Maeda and other guys start hitting. 

I agree, can not discount the Royals. So many years a team will come out of nowhere. Could be them. No easy wins for us in the division for us this year.

My worry is that the Twins have a lot of bad losses this year, and I don't mean bad by score, I mean bad by who they lost to, the Pirates? Losing games that you should win really hurts. I know people will say it's early, but it can get late really quick when you lose games to bad teams.