Entering Friday night, the Cleveland Guardians lead the AL Central by only two games over the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins with just 35 regular-season games remaining.
While the Guardians have led the division all season, their lead has grown uncomfortably narrow due to bad play, as well as the Royals and Twins getting hot at just the right time. The remaining schedules for each team are extremely similar and really do not heavily favor one team in particular.
Of the Guardians’ 35 games remaining, seven of those contests are against the Royals and four are against the Twins, with two series against the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and the first-place Houston Astros also looming on the down-the-stretch docket.
Cleveland is only 35-33 this season against teams with a record of .500 or better, which could make their last slate of games something of an uphill climb
The Guardians will need to continue to rely on their stellar bullpen, which leads MLB in ERA with a 2.68 mark. The minute this bullpen falls apart is the minute that the Guardians would start to lose winnable baseball games.
For their part, the Royals are led by MVP candidate Bobby Witt, with their schedule a bit tougher than that of the team they are trying to catch in the division.
The Royals schedule will feature seven games against Cleveland and three against Minnesota, with three series against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, the first-place New York Yankees and the first-place Astros additionally on the horizon.
Kansas City has one of the worst records in baseball this season against teams with a record of .500 or better at 27-35. If anything stops them from winning this division and reaching the postseason, it would be their abysmal record against winning teams.
Finally, the Twins have seven games remaining against the Guardians and Royals, as well as potentially tough series against the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves.
Minnesota has not been much better than Kansas City this season against winning teams, having posted a record of 30-39 against clubs with a record of .500 or better.
The Twins are top 10 in the MLB in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. They are middle of the pack in most team pitching categories like ERA and HR allowed.
For the Twins to take the AL Central, they will need to do what they’ve been doing all season — find ways to win baseball games.
With the number of times these teams play each other before season’s end, this American League central race is far from over. It will be a fun ride to the finish.