The American League is going exactly as expected so far this season. The Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels are all in first place and the defending American League champion Kansas City Royals look like they are running away with the wild card are already sitting pretty at 8-2. Cleveland, Houston, New York and Chicago have all continued to struggle.
Boston has been led by their new and improved offense. Hanley Ramirez has been a key addition, having a huge impact, already leading the team with four home runs and nine RBI. Xander Bogaerts has been a pleasant surprise at the plate, leading the team in batting with a .395 average and playing flawless defense with zero errors at shortstop. Dustin Pedroia is seeking his fifth gold glove award and is still swinging a hot bat. The Sox lead the league in on-base percentage and arguably have the best lineup in the league. If the pitching staff can remain average, the Red Sox have a good chance to run away with the division crown. The New York Yankees are in last place in the division due to lack of pitching. The Yankees have allowed the second most earned runs by any pitching staff in the league and can not find any consistency on offense. This is certainly not the year for fans of the Bronx Bombers.
Detroit has wasted no time getting right back to where they left off with the league’s best record of 9-1. Miguel Cabrera is swinging the best bat in baseball, and David Price is looking like an early Cy Young candidate. Jose Iglesias struggled at the plate in spring training, but is leading the league with a .484 average through 10 games, exceedingly helping Detroit’s lineup. Yoenis Cespedes has bolstered the middle of the batting order, adding much needed power and consistency that they didn’t have last year. And the good news for Detroit fans is that their second ace in Justin Verlander, who has been out all season battling multiple triceps injuries, will be returning. Once he returns, look for the Tigers to take over the league. The Minnesota Twins are colder than their climate. They reside in the basement of the Central Division as usual with a miserable 3-7 record, with the least amount of runs in the American league. Minnesota is relying on Phil Hughes as their ace, who the Yankees cut ties with years ago due to him being injury prone and inconsistent. It’s as cold as ice for the Minnesota Twins these days.
The West is up for grabs to say the least at the moment with the Los Angeles Angels in first place with a .500 record at 5-5. It is pretty obvious that they are the favorites to run away with division on the back of the world’s best player, Mike Trout. Trout is clearly the favorite to take home MVP honors once again this year and lead the Angels into another post-season appearance. Jared Weaver and Matt Shoemaker are both spectacular starting pitchers and have looked great in their first two starts. Huston Street has been flawless this season, closing games for the Angels, converting on four out of four of his chances for saves and has still yet to allow a run. The Houston Astros are looking helpless yet again this season. They are batting just .207 as a team this season, which is good for dead last in the majors. They didn’t make any offseason improvements after finishing last place in their division last year. Expect the same result this season from the Astros.