MLB Mid-September Check-In: AL Central

Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup .

The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the pennant race heating up in mid-September, were going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions.

Whos surprising? Whos underwhelming? Whos simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.

(Note: Records and standings are up to date through games played on Sunday, September 15th.) Top Position Player: Jose Ramirez (5.3 fWAR) Top Pitcher: Tanner Bibee (2.9 fWAR) The Cleveland Guardians survived a tumultuous August that saw their division lead dwindle to one game.

The team was able to stave off the Royals to build a four game lead in the division headed into the last week of the season.

So far, Cleveland has been able to ride a majors-leading 7.1 fWAR out of the bullpen to shut down games, led by the absurd Emmanuel Clase and his 0.66 ERA.

However, the lineup has been mediocre outside of perennial top-5 MVP candidate Jose Ramirez, especially Steven Kwan.

The All-Star was flirting with a .400 batting average in the first half of the season since the start of the second half, however, he has slashed .201/.305/.284 (and his back is bothering him in recent days as well).

Still, Cleveland is sitting on a 86-64 record in rookie manager Steven Vogts first season as we enter the final stretch.

Top Position Player: Bobby Witt Jr.

(9.7 fWAR) Top Pitcher: Cole Ragans (4.6 fWAR) Kansas City secured its first winning season since 2015 after Fridays victory over the Pirates, signaling a marked turnaround after a 106-loss 2023 campaign.

Bobby Witt Jr.

has an argument that his season is one of the best put together by a shortstop in baseball history, hitting .333/.385/.599 while solidifying himself as one of the games top defenders in any position.

Despite a slight slump in August, Witt is still carrying the Kansas City offense despite the loss of Vinnie Pasquantino and his 97 RBI.

Seth Lugo has symbolized Kansas Citys frantic rebuild during the offseason as well.

After signing a two-year, $30 million deal in the offseason, hes pitched to a 2.94 ERA thus far, and co-ace Cole Ragans has been terrific in his own right.

Kansas Citys pitching overall has been very good, placing third in the majors in terms of fWAR.

KC shapes up to be a pesky team for any opponent in a playoff series.

Top Position Player: Carlos Correa (3.7 fWAR) Top Pitcher: Pablo Lopez (3.3 fWAR) Coming in third are the floundering Minnesota Twins .

The Twins are 24-28 in the second half, and just 5-8 so far in September.

Last years AL Central champs have suffered a mix of injuries (Joe Ryan, Carlos Correa, and Byron Buxton come to mind) as well as underperformance (e.g., Royce Lewis and his .200/.246/.400 second-half slash line).

With the surging Tigers nipping at their heels, it is do-or-die time for the Twins as they cling to a 2.5-game lead over Detroit and Seattle in the AL Wild Card standings.

At least its cool to see Carlos Santana still doing his thing.

Top Position Player: Riley Greene (3.5 fWAR) Top Pitcher: Tarik Skubal (5.4 fWAR) The Tigers appear to not only be on pace for an exciting 2025, they have the ability to make for an exciting end of the season should they keep playing the way they have been playing for the past month and a half.

Detroit has gone from complete afterthought to at least on the periphery of the Wild Card mix.

Tarik Skubal has been the main storyline for the Tigers this year as hes been the presumptive AL Cy Young winner, but young players like Riley Greene and Parker Meadows have buoyed the Tigers lineup as theyve not only beat up on bad teams like the Rockies and White Sox , but have now taken a series off of the free-falling Orioles.

Top Position Player: Paul DeJong (1.0 fWAR) Top Position Player still on the team: Nicky Lopez (0.9 fWAR) Top Pitcher: Garrett Crochet (4.1 fWAR) On the bright side for the Southsiders, this season is nearing its merciful end.

In two weeks time, well be able to say this is the worst team in modern history.

Next year doesnt look any more promising for Chicago, with their GM Chris Getz stating that they do not expect to make any free agent moves this upcoming offseason.

There isnt much to say about this disaster other than that they are 42 games out of fourth place and need to improbably go 7-5 across their final 12 games to avoid breaking the 1962 Mets modern record for most losses (120).

WHITE SOX LOSE #115 LFG!! AND WERE GONNA SUCK FOREVER! pic.twitter.com/wtgFSXzLYt.

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