The American League Central in April 2009

See team statistics and player updates from the AL Central Division

May 1, 2009

The Kansas City Royals have been perennial bottom feeders since Tony Pena led the 2003 squad to an 83-79 record, but right now the Royals are leading the division early.

RHP Zack Greinke successfully battled depression and now has the Kansas City Royals flying high with a miniscule .50 ERA. Greinke is also the league’s only 5-game winner and had a 43-inning scoreless streak snapped against the Blue Jays.

• Closer Joakim Soria threw off the mound Thursday after leaving a game on April 13 with a sore shoulder. Soria is 5-for-5 in save chances.

• Mark Jacobs leads the team in Homeruns (4) and RBI (13), but the Royals struggle in clutch situations with a team batting of .000 in situations with 2 out and the bases loaded.

The White Sox seem to rely on the long-bal in orderl to keep pace with the Kansas Royals after A.J Pierzynsky, Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye all hit solo homeruns in a 6-3 win over the Mariners. Quentin’s 8 homers are tied for third in the league while Dye is second on the team with 6 homeruns.

• Slugger Jim Thome missed his third consecutive game with a sore heel. Thome is listed as day-to-day, but may go on the DL soon.

• The White Sox have no plans of benching SS Alexi Ramirez even though his .214 batting average is second to last on the team.

Miguel Cabrera powers an offense that needs to keep rolling in order to stay afloat in a competitive AL Central. Cabrera is 5th in Batting Average (.377) and tenth in On-Base percentage (.455).

• Curtis Granderson found the homerun stroke and now has 7 homeruns on the season after hitting a three-run homerun against New York. Granderson is among the bottom three on his team in batting average (.241).

• 3B Brandon Inge has reached base in all 21 games this season. Inge is second on the team in hits with 22.

The Minnesota Twins really miss Joe Mauer behind the dish and an offense that can hit the long ball. Justin Morneau’s 5 homers leads a team that ranks 22nd in the league in homeruns with 16.

• Since Joe Mauer went on the 15-day disabled list with a back ailment, Mark Redmond hasn’t picked up the slack. He’s gone 0-10 throwing out baserunners after complaining of a sore shoulder.

• 2B Alexi Casillas dropped to ninth in the order after batting second for most of the season. Casillas is 1-18 against Left handed pitching with a .185 overall batting average.

The Cleveland Indian’s 8-14 record is secont worst in MLB and it doesn't get better. DH Travis Halfner will miss two weeks with a sore right shoulder after batting .270 with four homers and eight RBI the last two weeks.

• Victor Martinez hit his first triple in fiver years Wednesday. It’s his second career triple with his last one coming on June 2, 2002.

• The Royals will call up LHP Rich Rundles from Triple-A Columbus to replace Travis Halfner. Rundles is 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA after seven appearances.

The copyright of the article The American League Central in April 2009 in Major League Baseball is owned by Jose San Mateo. Permission to republish The American League Central in April 2009 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.