American League Wrap Up 25 Games In:

After 25 games few teams in the American League have separated themselves from the pack. In the American League Central the Chicago White Sox have taken a three game lead over the Detroit Tigers, the largest of any division leader. Last years World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals, sit in third place. The Chicago White Sox have recently had some very bad seasons, but this looks like the year where they turn in around. Backed by Chris Sale, who has been the undisputed best pitcher in the AL to date, the White Sox have put up a team ERA of 2.65. The next closest team is the Seattle Mariners with a 3.17 team ERA. Sale’s recent dominance is nothing new and should be expected to continue. He is 6-0 with a 1.66 ERA and 38 strikeouts to only nine walks. Sale has been on the brink of stardom for years and this looks like the year where he has everything put together. Last season he started very well before running out of steam later in the season. After another year to mature and a much better team around him I expect him to be able to weather the storm when he does strike adversity later in the season. The White Sox also have veteran reliever David Robertson who sat behind Mariano Rivera for years before becoming the closer in NY upon his retirement. He signed with the White Sox as a free agent last year and is exactly the type of veteran closer the young White Sox team needs to finish games. So far Robertson has posted a 0.79 ERA with 14 strikeouts and only four walks. Todd Frazier, offseason accusation and last years home run derby champion, has been a huge boost to the White Sox offense. They seemed to lack a big bat in the middle of the lineup to help protect young Jose Abreu last year, and Frazier has stepped in and filled that void.

In the American League East the Boston Red Sox hold a half game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. While Boston has jumped out to the early lead they shouldn’t get too comfortable in first place. Their recent success has been due to their unbelievable stretch of hitting. They currently lead the American League in team batting average by more than 10 points. One would only expect that they will cool off a little putting more pressure on their underperforming pitching staff. The Red Sox big offseason accusation was signing star pitcher David Price to a 7 year 217 million dollar contract. So far he has severely underperformed and if the Red Sox can’t get him back on track they will have serious starting pitching problems as the season progresses. Last years division winner, Toronto Blue Jays, sit four games behind Boston. Toronto was the favorite to repeat coming into the year, but everyone knew pitching would be an issue. With Price leaving for the Red Sox Marcus Stroman must step into the ace role. Stroman is still very young, 25, and his game sometimes shows it. He throws low 90s and relies on his changeup for strikeouts and ground balls. Later in games hitters seem to be adjusting to that pitch and swinging at it less. Stroman needs to find a way to get outs without using his changeup early in the game so that batters haven't seen his nastiest stuff when they are taking their third at bat against him later in the game. Currently in last place in the East division the New York Yankees sit six games back. The Yankees have had an abysmal start to the season and have not been hitting or pitching well. Starting pitching has been a serious problem and it seems that young phenom Luis Severino may not be ready for the big stage. Severino made a few starts at the end of last season and pitched well, but getting through an entire 162 game schedule is far different than making a few starts late in the year. Big league hitters have recognized his inability to locate his fastball and have jumped all over it early in the count. His best pitch is said to be his wipeout slider, but he hasn't been getting ahead of hitters with his fastball well enough to make them respect the slider. The NYY's struggles don't end with Severino. Coming into the season the Yankees were thought to have the best bullpen in the league with Chapman, Miller, and Betances. With Chapman suspended for the first 30 games Betances and Miller have been relied upon heavily. They pitched well until the most recent series where Betances gave up crucial home runs in two out of the three games. For the Yankees to have any chance in this division they will need Miller and Betances to perform at a high level and Chapman to return to the team and provide the spark they thought he would be when they traded for him this offseason.

In the American League West the Texas Rangers have jumped out to an early lead, building off their great second half of last season. The Rangers have been balanced between pitching and hitting success so far, but will get a huge boost to their starting rotation when Yu Darvish returns from injury. Darvish was the ace of the staff and one of the best pitchers in the league before suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament at the beginning of last season. In his most recent rehab start his fastball reached 97 mph, a great sign for those who doubted his arm strength. Last years surprise team, the Houston Astros, seem to have taken a step back and are currently 8-18, seven games out of first place. Their success last year was based mostly on hitting home runs and great pitching. This year they are still hitting home runs, they just aren’t pitching well. Their team ERA of 4.85 is worst in the AL. Dallas Keuchel, last years AL Cy Young award winner, has gotten off to a very poor start posting a 5.11 ERA so far. He may not achieve his Cy Young level 2.48 ERA from last year, but you can expect him to make some adjustments to get to where he needs to be. Keuchel doesn’t throw very hard and relies more on location and movement to get hitters out, because of this there is less room for error. Missing a spot with a 100mph fastball is a lot different than missing a spot with Keuchel’s 88mph fastball. Last year’s rookie of the year Carlos Correa has gotten off to a slow start thus far, when he gets hot the Astros can be expected to follow suit. He is batting a respectable .264 thus far, but has only three home runs and 9 runs batted in. For the Astros to make any noise this year Correa will have to perform at an all-star level, a lot to ask from the 21 year old in his first full season of big league action.