AL Central: Who’s better the Minnesota Twins or the Cleveland Indians?
With the Cleveland Indians beating the Minnesota Twins last night, the two teams are tied atop the AL Central standings and begs the question, who’s better?
With the lead the Minnesota Twins had a month ago, most thought the Cleveland Indians were dead in the water. The Indians have been on a hot streak and the Twins have come back down to earth. With the way both teams are playing, we need to take a look at who will come out on top.
We will be taking a look at the season as a whole, not just the last two weeks or so and we’ll look at team pitching and hitting and which team’s stars can carry them to the division title.
As far as team hitting, the Twins rank 4th in the Majors in team average, with the team slashing .270/.335/.497. Jorge Poland, Nelson Cruz, and Eddie Rosario lead the Twins in batting average.
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The Indians are 16th, slashing .250/.323/.430 with Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana and Tyler Naquin leading the way. This suggests that Minnesota may have simply had an off series as they lost 3 or the 4 at home to the Indians.
As far as pitching goes, that advantage definitely goes to Cleveland. They are 3rd in the Majors with a 3.63 ERA with Shane Bieber (3.28) and Zach Plesac (3.13) leading the way. Even after trading away Trevor Bauer, they are still solid in that department. Closer Brad Hand has struggled a little with 29 saves out of 32 save opportunities.
The Twins aren’t slouches by any stretch of the imagination but are not as solid as Cleveland. They are 9th in team ERA with 4.15 team ERA, led by Jose Berrios (3.29) and Jake Odorizzi (3.44). Their bullpen is what scares me.
Their ‘closer’ Taylor Rogers has 18 saves in 24 opportunities and as a team has blown 15 saves. Sergio Romo has been a great addition with a 1.59 ERA.
After looking at these numbers, I have to give the advantage to the Indians. Pitching is the one thing you need towards the end of the season and in the postseason. This is when a team’s weaknesses are exposed and the Twins’ is pitching.
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Both teams will make the playoffs, but the Minnesota Twins will find themselves in the wild card game and the Cleveland Indians will be the division winners.