Best Team: Texas Rangers
After back to back American League Pennants, the Rangers look to be in the driver’s seat yet again. Boasting their standard vaunted offense, Texas leads the majors in team batting average (.280), and RBI’s (325). And while MVP front-runner Josh Hamilton’s gaudy statistics (.330, 22 HR’s, 62 RBI’s) have attracted the majority of the nation’s attention, the Rangers lineup top to bottom has been an opposing pitcher’s nightmare. Sitting ten games above .500 thru Thursday, and with a pitching staff on the mend, Texas once again appears to be the cream of the crop of the American League.
Surprise Team: Chicago White Sox
Picked last in their division by many pre-season publications, Manager Robin Ventura has the Sox sitting atop the Central. With an 18-11 road record thru Thursday, Chicago has relied on top prospect Chris Sale’s dominant pitching, as well as the resurgence of veteran slugger Adam Dunn. Despite a brief stint as the Sox closer, Sale leads the American League in both wins (8) and ERA (2.05). And with Dunn (rebounding from a historically bad 2011 campaign) tied for the league lead in homeruns, the White Sox appear to be legit postseason contenders.
Disappointing Team: Detroit Tigers
The offseason acquisition of thumping first baseman Prince Fielder seemed to position the Tigers as a potential World Series contender. And while Fielder and Miguel Cabrera have lived up to their end of the bargain as the most feared third/fourth hitting tandems in baseball, the rest of the Detroit offense has been surprisingly dormant. Couple that with question marks other than Justin Verlander in the starting rotation, and the Tigers are floundering at 30-34 thru Friday. You’ve got to figure that the talented roster eventually begins reaching expectations, but clearly it’s going to be an uphill second half battle in the Motor City.
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