KC Royals: Is The AL Central The Best Division In Baseball

The 2015 MLB season is flying right along, and as of June 4th, the KC Royals are on top in the American League Central. The AL Central has been a pretty close race when it comes to who is at the top, and the division currently has three teams with winning records, and only two with losing records. Not only that, but the two teams with losing records aren’t far under the .500 mark. Here are the current standings as of June 4th, courtesy of ESPN:

More from Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals (30-20)
Minnesota Twins (31-21)
Detroit Tigers (28-26)
Cleveland Indians (25-27)
Chicago White Sox (24-27)

Hey, that’s pretty impressive at this point in the season and it’s definitely worth arguing that the AL Central is the best division in baseball. For one, it has the KC Royals in it, who went all the way to Game 7 of the World Series last year and (call me biased) are one of the best teams in all of baseball.

There’s also the Minnesota Twins, who have shocked everyone this year with how well they’ve played. The Twins started off as one of the worst teams in the league, but have turned on the accelerator and at one point, held onto first place in the American League Central. They’re still right at the top and could easily retake first should they win and the Royals flounder against the Indians on Thursday night.

While the Detroit Tigers are losers of six straight games, they’re still a good team and shouldn’t be counted out. This is a team that has won the division four years running, and advanced to the World Series twice the past nine years (losing both, and even being swept in one of them).

Live Feed

A's slug their way past Kansas City, wins 6-4 /

White Cleat Beat

This pitcher could break an unenviable KC Royals recordKings of Kauffman

MLB Playoff Odds vs. Baseball Reference Playoff Odds: Who Has Betting Value?Betsided

Royals vs. Athletics prediction and odds for Monday, Aug. 21 (Battle for last place)Kings of Kauffman

KC Royals fans need to watch this surging prospectKings of Kauffman

KC Royals News: Fireflies on fire, Brad Keller, and why a sweep would be goodKings of Kauffman

Last year it came down to the Royals and Tigers for the division crown, and the Tigers remained victorious. Don’t be surprised if it’s these same two teams fighting for the title this year, only with the Royals coming out on top this time.

The Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox both sit at the bottom of the division, but barely. The Indians were in a rough patch a few weeks back, but Corey Kluber’s arm has woken up and he’s had some pretty impressive starts as of lately (except when he pitches against the Royals).

The White Sox put together an impressive off season, but it’s taken time for them to warm up to each other. The Sox started off the season getting swept by Kansas City, but has since posted a record of only three games under .500. Chicago might be in last place, but three games under the .500 mark in only June is nothing to throw to the side and ignore. This very well could be a dangerous team down the stretch.

Looking at the rest of the divisions in the league, I think it’s a no brainer that the American League Central is the best division in all of baseball, but let’s look at the possible “close calls”.

The American League West could be candidates, as they have the hot Houston Astros who have the best record in the American League at 34-20, the Los Angeles Angels (28-26), and the Texas Rangers (27-26) all with winning records. The AL West does have the Oakland Athletics, who are a dreadful 11 games under .500 and 12.5 games behind the Astros for first place.

In the National League, the Central is holding down the best division there, posting three teams with over .500 records (including the St. Louis Cardinals who sit atop with the best record in all of baseball at 35-18).

Regardless if the AL Central is the best league in the division or not, the Kansas City Royals will have their work cut out for them if they want to win the crown and make it back into the playoffs because the division crown is anyone’s game at this point.

Next: Five Royals Who Could Be Chiefs

More from KC Kingdom

Home/Kansas City Royals