American League MLB Week Recap: Royals On Top

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The 2015 Major League Baseball season is a week in as the Kansas City Royals sit atop the American League. The defending American League Champions have gotten off to the best start not only in the American League but the overall league to start the season. Entering Monday Night, the Royals sat at 6-0 atop the American League Central.

The other undefeated team after the first week was the Detroit Tigers who also won their first six games of the season. Along with these two central teams the other two hot teams in the American League are both out of the East division after a week of the season. The Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays both posted 4-2 records over the first week.

Here is a quick overview of each division in the American League.

East Division: The top spending team in the division during the offseason currently holds one of the top two spots in the division. The Red Sox who landed Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval took two of three with the Philadelphia Phillies before heading to New York to take two of three from the Yankees. The second team in the division the Blue Jays sits with the same record after taking two of three in Baltimore against the Orioles.

Rounding out the rest of the American League East are the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays each at 3-3 while the New York Yankees posted the worst record of the week at just 2-4. The difference between the top of the division and bottom of the division is the teams run differential. The Red Sox and Blue Jays have scored their opponents by double digits while the bottom three teams have combined to be outscored by one run.

Central Division: Entering the season many wondered if the Royals had it in them to repeat as division champs. To start the season they look like the team to beat not only in the division but in the entire league. The team is doing it on pitching as they have allowed only 18 runs in the team’s first seven games while scoring 52 runs. The other team to watch in the division the Tigers has gotten off to the second hottest start in the league.

The Tigers have posted one of their better starts in their franchise winning six straight games to start the season. Much like the Royals success the Tigers have been doing it with their ability to hit while the pitching has been spectacular. Through the teams first seven games the Tigers pitchers have allowed only 21 runs in those games while the hitters have produced 51 runs.

The big surprise in the division has been the play of the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox who some have competing for the division. Both teams have failed to get their bats working on through each of their first six games. The two teams have combined to score just 40 runs while allowing 61 runs. The Minnesota Twins who many had as the worst team in the American League sit at just 1-6 on the season.

West Division: While many experts had the Seattle Mariners or Oakland A’s running away with this division they all sit about the same after the first week. The Mariners, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and A’s all have three wins over the first week while the Los Angeles sit one game back at 2-4 after their first six games of the season.

When you look at this division the one thing that we noticed that stood out was the teams ability to produce runs. The Mariners who added Nelson Cruz to a lineup that already included Robinson Cano have scored just 20 runs over the first six games. The Angels who have one of the more talented lineups in baseball have scored just 16 runs while allowing 26 runs.

Now that we have taken a look at each of the divisions around Major League Baseball we can take a look at individuals. Here is our list of top individual performers over the first week of the season.

Miguel Cabrera: The Tigers first baseman hit .520 over the teams first six games with 11 hits in just 21 at bats. In that stretch, Cabrera was able to pick up one double, two home runs, seven runs batted in and three walks while only striking out one time in that stretch. Cabrera looks to be in midseason form for the Tigers despite having offseason surgery on his foot.

Hanley Ramirez: Ramirez who signed with the Red Sox in the offseason got his career started with a bang. The former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder picked up a pair of home runs along with five runs batted in on opening day in a Red Sox 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. In his first five games, Ramirez hit .320 with two home runs and seven runs driven in.

Salvador Perez: The reigning American League All-Star at catcher is repeating his success from last year. Perez hit .417 over his first six games with one double, three home runs and eight runs driven in for the Royals this season.

Yordano Ventura: Another Royal who is looking to build on a successful 2014 campaign is Ventura. Ventura posted a 2-0 record during the week while allowing just three earned runs over 11.2 innings for the Royals. The wins came against the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels.

David Price: Price has pitched 14.1 innings this season allowing zero earned runs in that stretch. Unfortunately the Tigers ace was only able to pick up one win in those starts despite the team winning both contests. Overall Price is 1-0 with a zero earned run average to go with 11 strikeouts.

Overall the week provided us with some great plays, big hits and some excellent baseball!

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