The AL Central Contenders Stepped Up To Open 2023

(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The American League Central division should be one of the most entertaining in baseball.

The Cleveland Guardians are perhaps MLB‘s most exciting team when we consider present and future performance, with an army of talented prospects and a strong current core.

The Minnesota Twins made all the right moves in the offseason, and the Chicago White Sox still have an impressive trio of starters and potential stars in Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, Andrew Vaughn, Tim Anderson and others.

The other teams in the division, the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers, don’t look particularly likely to compete in 2023 and it shows in the standings.

The opening week(end) of the 2023 campaign gave us a glimpse of what we will be in for in the upcoming months: a hotly contested three-way battle for the top spot.

“The Minnesota #Twins (3-0) Cleveland #Guardians (3-1), and Chicago #Whitesox (2-2) all with impressive opening weekends on the road in the AL Central,” MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted.

The Minnesota #Twins (3-0) Cleveland #Guardians (3-1), and Chicago #Whitesox (2-2) all with impressive opening weekends on the road in the AL Central

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 2, 2023

The Twins didn’t even give the Royals a chance: they scored just four runs in three games, all of them coming on Sunday.

The Guardians did have to battle a quality team in the Seattle Mariners, but came out victorious in three of their four contests.

The White Sox had the most difficult assignment of the three contenders, splitting a four-game set with the reigning World Series champs, the Houston Astros.

The Twins and Guardians look to be half a tier above Chicago, but the pale hose are perfectly capable of catching up to them if they hit on a couple of best-case scenarios.

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