The 2024 season is quickly approaching and baseball fans are getting anxious about the prospects of their favorite teams. While pitchers and catchers will begin reporting as early as February 13, spring training games will begin on February 22. The American League Central is probably the worst division in all of Major League Baseball, but it still has some excitement surrounding the top end.
In 2023, the Minnesota Twins won the American League Central comfortably by 9 games. The Detroit Tigers made substantial improvement, winning 12 more games in 2023 than they did in 2022. The White Sox and Guardians were the most disappointing teams in the division, both losing 20 games and 16 games more respectively than the season prior.
This season, the Twins look to win the division for the 2nd consecutive year and the Tigers try to continue their come-up. On the flip side, the Guardians, White Sox, and Royals will look to be more competitive and put some pressure on the two favorites at the top of the division.
American League Central 2024 Preview and Predictions
Detroit Tigers (Predicted Finish: 88-74; Odds to Win Division: +350-DK, +300-FD)
2023 Finish: 78-84 (Second Place in American League Central)
At the end of the 2023 season, the Detroit Tigers finished with a 78-84 record, earning them second place in the Central. Their record was much better than the original cellar dweller projections. The Tigers had their fair share of struggles at the plate in. As a team, they had the third-fewest hits in the American League (1293), third-worst batting average (.236), third-fewest home runs (165), third-fewest runs (661), and bottom-five finishes in on-base percentage (.305, 11th in American League), slugging percentage (.382, 13th), and OPS (.687, 13th).
As far as the pitching staff goes, middle-of-the-pack isn’t the best line to have. However, it’s not the worst, either. Detroit placed ninth in the American League in ERA (4.24), while surrendering the sixth-fewest hits (1320), fifth-fewest home runs (187), and walking the fifth-fewest batters (476). Lefty Starter Tarik Skubal finished with a 7-3 record, a career-best 2.80 ERA, and a sub-0.9 WHIP. In 80.1 innings, the 26-year-old only allowed 58 hits and walked just 14 batters while striking out 102, equivalent to a strikeout-to-walk ratio better than 7.25-to-1. Over a full season, that would make him one of the more elite arms in the game.
2024 Outlook
Heading into 2024, the Tigers have the most impressive pitching staff in the American League Central. Skubal, Kenta Maeda, and Jack Flaherty form one of the better trios in the Junior Circuit. Matt Manning could end up being their second best starting pitcher by the season’s end. Reese Olsen and Alex Faedo will battle for the fifth spot in the rotation. Skubal is a dark horse to win the American League Cy Young Award (+1600 on DraftKings, +1500 on Fandual).
Gone is future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera. However, the lineup will be anchored by First Baseman Spencer Torkelson and they are hoping Javy Baez bounces back and at least resembles his old self. The Tigers have plenty of young juice in their potential lineup with right fielder Riley Greene, center fielder Parker Meadows (+900 on DraftKings +2000 on Fandual to win AL Rookie of the Year Award), second baseman Colt Keith (+1000 on DraftKings and Fandual to win AL Rookie of the Year), and third baseman Jace Jung.
Minnesota Twins (Predicted Finish: 84-78; Odds to Win Division: -115-DK, -145-FD)
2023 Finish: 87-75 (First Place in American League Central)
It’s not often an 87-game winner runs away with their division, but the Twins managed to do it. Albeit, the American League Central is possibly the worst division in Major League Baseball. However, Minnesota won the war of attrition and advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2020.
The Twins won their third AL Central title in five seasons under Rocco Baldelli. Behind Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray, and Carlos Correa, they beat the Toronto Blue Jays in a best-of-three playoff series at Target Field. Their Game 1 win over the Blue Jays was their first playoff win in 19 years. The series win was their first in 21 seasons.
2024 Outlook
Gone is Sonny Gray, as he headed to St. Louis in free agency. In comes Anthony DeSclafani as a result of a trade with Seattle. The Twins are searching for more arms to fill out their rotation and they will miss Sonny Gray. Even though he only finished 8-8 in 2023, he finished second in the American League with a 2.79 ERA. Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa, and Byron Buxton will anchor the offense in an attempt to make it back to the playoffs.
Cleveland Guardians (Predicted Finish: 75-87; Odds to Win Division: +350-DK, +420-FD)
2023 Finish: 76-86 (Third Place in American League Central)
The Cleveland Guardians 2023 season concluded with a 76-86 record, fading down the stretch and falling short of postseason aspirations. Despite early-season promise, the team struggled with injuries and inconsistencies.
Key players showed moments of brilliance, but the inability to maintain consistency left fans thinking about missed opportunities. The late-season skid raised questions about the team’s resiliency and managerial adjustments.
Cleveland faltered down the stretch in 2023 to lose out on a potential playoff berth with the AL Central division crown. Unfortunately for the Guardians, their down turn came at the worst time, as the Minnesota Twins got hot to pull away and end up winning the division. They simply did not play well enough toward the end of the season when it mattered most. Cleveland finished third in the division, as the Detroit Tigers passed them on the last weekend of the season.
2024 Outlook
As they turn the page and move onto 2024, the Guardians are stuck in neutral. The roster didn’t have much turnover, meaning they neither got much better nor worse. Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, the Guardians are likely headed for another mediocre, frustrating season.
Kansas City Royals (Predicted Finish: 72-90; Odds to Win Division: +850-DK, +1100-FD)
2023 Finish: 56-161 (Fifth Place in American League Central)
The Kansas City Royals may have finished last in the AL Central last season, but their future is actually quite bright. Unlike their fellow bottom-dwelling companions in Oakland and Chicago, the Royals have a vision for the future with talent starting to already pan out. In another two to three seasons the Royals should be competing for the AL Central, alongside the Tigers and Twins.
2024 Outlook
Bobby Witt Jr. is one of the elite players in the league, but the Royals will need more help from their young core. MJ Melendez and Vinnie Pasquantino will have to be more consistent and take the next step for Kansas City to take the next step. Brady Singer and Kris Bubic were not good in 2023 and they will need to stay healthier moving forward.
Kansas City has plenty of promise and hope for optimism, but success will be a few years down the road. Can they take the next steps in 2024 to progress as a franchise?
Chicago White Sox (Predicted Finish: 66-96; Odds to Win Division: +4000-DK, +3500-FD)
2023 Finish: 61-101 (Fourth Place in American League Central)
The Chicago White Sox tallied the second-fewest runs in the American League with 641. They also acquired the fourth-fewest hits (1308), fifth-lowest home runs (171), and were walked the fewest times in the AL (377). As a result, the slash line places the Sox at twelfth in the AL in team batting average (.238), worst in on-base percentage (.291), twelfth in slugging (.384), and fourteenth in OPS (.675). Despite Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn having productive seasons, the White Sox as a whole were putrid.
They had the third-worst team ERA in the American League (4.87), while surrendering the fifth-most hits (1372), third-highest run total (841), and third-most earned runs (774). The White Sox pitchers also gave up the most home runs in the AL with 214. The Sox also walked the second-most opposing batters (654).
2024 Outlook
Chicago still has Dylan Cease…for the moment. He’s been linked to various trade destinations this offseason, so he’s likely to be dealt at some point. Michael Kopech and Michael Soroka have had issues with injuries. Thus, they can only be counted on in a limited capacity. The lineup should be better in 2024, but that probably won’t keep them out of the basement.
About the Author
Not only a writer, editor, and contributor of Total Apex Sports, Tom Harvey is also the co-founder of dynastyprosfootball.com
Tom has been writing about professional wrestling, college football, NFL, and fantasy football for over a decade and is an avid sports fan. A graduate of the University of Tennessee with a History degree, he loves all things Vols. He is also a massive Atlanta Braves and Dallas Cowboys fan. An “Army Brat,” Tom has lived all over the country and abroad, so he has an appreciation of most sports and fan bases.
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