We never quite got that four-team race in the AL Central we were promised in 2024. When the Twins were hanging around, the Tigers weren’t in the race. When the Tigers got hot, the Twins fell apart. By the end, the Guardians had pulled away.
To illustrate, on Aug. 17, the Guardians had a two-game lead over the Twins with the Royals just four back. The Tigers, though, were 12.5 out. By Aug. 27, the Tigers had pulled to within eight games while the Royals and Guardians were tied at the top of the division with the Twins just 2.5 games out. A chaotic four-team race looked within reach!
The Tigers would actually make the playoffs after winning 16 of their final 22 games, but that only pulled them within 6.5 games of first, tied for second place. The Twins sputtered down the stretch and finished 10.5 games out. The Guardians put the thing away with relative ease.
This time around, the sentiment heading into the season was that, yes, the White Sox would be terrible, but otherwise the winner could be any of the other four teams. Dare we hope that it would be a close, four-team race to the end?
Well, the Twins picked up where they left off. Through April 20, they were 7-15 and already six games out. Damn. I guess we’re maxed out at a three-team race …
But wait!
The Twins have been playing excellent baseball since, having won 14 of 19. They’ve actually now won eight straight games and have moved above .500 at 21-20.
They remain in fourth place in a good division, but are only five games out, which is absolutely workable here on May 12. It’s a great story how they’ve resurrected themselves in this race.
Now with the Twins having awakened from that slumber they had been on since roughly mid-August, this has the makings of a division that could keep four teams in the race into September.
If that’s the case, there’s all kinds of potential head-to-head fun late in the season.
- The Guardians and Tigers square off six times in the final two weeks.
- The Royals host the Twins for three games Sept. 5-7.
- The Royals host the Guardians for a four-game set, Sept. 8-11.
- The Twins host the Guardians for three Sept. 19-21.
The Guardians play one of the other three here 13 of their final 19 games.
Let’s hope all four teams are within striking range at the time because regular-season games that have a playoff feel are just off-the-charts fun. And the foundation for that is being laid here in May.
Biggest Movers
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Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dodgers |
Freddie Freeman will turn 36 years old this coming September. He is hitting .376/.437/.734 right now. In the Expansion Era (1961-present), the highest single-season batting average by a player 35 years old or older is .372 (Tony Gwynn, 1997, age 37). |
Rankings for the top MLB teams are as follows:
1. Yankees – Record: 28-15
2. Mets – Record: 28-16
3. Padres – Record: 27-15
4. Tigers – Tarik Skubal has been impressive with 50 strikeouts and only one walk in his last seven starts. Rankings for the top MLB teams are as follows:
1. Tampa Bay Rays – 29-15 record
2. Philadelphia Phillies – 25-18 record
3. New York Yankees – 25-18 record
4. San Francisco Giants – MLB-best 2.53 bullpen ERA The Cubs are currently ranked 8th with a record of 25-19. Only three players this season have reached double digits in both home runs and steals, with Shohei Ohtani being one of them. The other two players are Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The Mariners are ranked 9th and are considered one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning 18 of their last 24 games. Despite their success, they were swept by the Blue Jays after resting on their off day. Baseball can be unpredictable at times. Rankings for three baseball teams are as follows:
10. Guardians
– Impact player: Daniel Schneemann
– Record: 25-18
11. Royals
– Strong rotation ERA
– Record: 25-20
12. Cardinals
– Record was 14-19 on May 3 before facing the Mets