Fantasy Baseball 1st Half Reactions: AL Central

Jul 12, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; The Kansas City Royals mascot “Sluggerrr” waves a Royals flag after the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 11-10. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

With regular season games taking a backseat to All-Star festivities until Friday, I think it is an interesting exercise to identify certain events or players that have caught your attention so far this season. Some guys may have disappointed or surprised you, but taking note of your reactions can be a benefit as the season progresses or for future seasons to come.

We will go division by division throughout the week, up until we get back to regular season action, and back to the grind of the regular season.

Here are my reactions to the AL East, AL West and NL East, NL Central.

AL Central

Kansas City Royals- Coming off their cinderella run in 2014, it seemed as though 2015 maybe the year where the Royals fall back to Earth after setting expectations at an all-time high. I for one will admit that I did not think they could repeat the success they had in 2014, but that could not be farther from the truth.

At the break, the Royals have the second most wins in baseball and have capitalized on their great defense and solid approaches at the plate to be in the cusp of making another postseason run. The Royals have a lot of solid fantasy contributors across the board, even if they lack that one true fantasy stud at any position. When James Shields left in free agency, the weight of the rotation seemed to be placed on the shoulders of Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy’s shoulders., thus they found themselves getting selected at high upside arms in the draft.

However, at this point they have both failed to produce at the level the Royals and fantasy owners expected, leaving the Royals in dire need of someone to fill the void. Therefore, my first reaction has to be towards the career revival that Edinson Volquez has been able to continue in 2015. While he was solid in Pittsburgh in 2014, you could argue that he has been even better this season and for the Royals and fantasy owners alike, his addition has gone above and beyond expectations.

Honorable Mentions: Lorenzo Cain‘s great start and Alex Gordon‘s Injury

Minnesota Twins- One of, if not the best, stories in 2015 has to be the incredible job that the Twins have done in the first half. They currently sit in second place in the division and own the first Wildcard spot in the AL standings. I think going into the 2015 season that many of us sort of slept on the Twins pretty sneaky lineup, as it was laden with some power potential. It is clear that the Twins power has triggered their success in 2015, but I look to a key rotation breakout that has truly allowed them to sustain their improbable run.

While most of the Twins rotation pieces have ERA’s that are hovering in the 4.00’s, there has been one guy that should have gotten every fantasy owners attention this season. Kyle Gibson is without a doubt the ace of the staff as his 8 wins, 78 Ks and 2.85 ERA point to a true breakout season so far. Gibson’s name had been floated out there for a while as on the best SP in the Twins system, but he had been able to put it all together before 2015.

He has been absolutely great all year and a pleasant surprise for the Twins and for those fantasy owners that have taken the chance to add him to your teams.

Honorable Mentions: Brian Dozier’s monster start and Kennys Vargas’s flop

Detroit Tigers- The Tigers find themselves in a difficult predicament heading into the All-Star break as they sit 9 games back in the division. They have had to deal with some big injuries to key contributors and their only threat in the rotation all year has been David Price. I sincerely doubt that they will be sellers going into the trade deadline, but I am not sure that even if they made one big move, it would propel them into contention with the way the Royals and Twins have been playing.

I would never say that anyone is a bigger threat than Miguel Cabrera at the plate as I think he is the best hitter in the game. But, you could argue that even with a healthy Miggy, the Tigers would be nowhere without the monster success J.D. Martinez has had all season. Martinez has hit like a man possessed so far and at the break he sits with a .289/25 HR/54 RBI line.

I know that Martinez has carried the Tigers and fantasy teams everywhere, as he has produced first round value from his mid-round draft status, as many people were not confident that he could duplicate his 2014 success. It will interesting to see if he can keep it going as fantasy owners and the Tigers, are banking on him to continue his career season.

Honorable Mentions: Miguel Cabrera’s injury and Ian Kinsler’s drop in production

Cleveland Indians- The next two teams storylines can be summed up in one word, underwhelming. It seemed as though 2015 could be the year that the Indians finally overtake the Tigers for the division crown, as they had a ridiculous 3 headed monster in the rotation and a solid lineup to boot. Unfortunately, that has not been the case so far.

The Indians are currently 11 games back in the division and for whatever reason, are one of the worst teams at home in baseball. I would hold that the real crux of their first half struggles is that they cannot get consistent production from anyone in the lineup not named Jason Kipnis or Michael Brantley. No matter how good their pitching can be on any given night, the hitting has to supply them with some semblance of run support.

As the offense is the root of the problem, there has been a bright spot in the rotation. The Indians has a dynamic 1-3 with Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, but the back-end of the rotation seemed to be a mystery heading into 2015. But, so far this season Trevor Bauer seems to have figured it out and has emerged as one of the best SP on the whole staff, turning the Indians into one the of league’s best 1-4 rotation. He has always had the talent, but it seemed as though he just could not do the necessary things that would propel him to the solid status he has now. It will be interesting to see if Bauer can maintain this success because the Indians will need quality starts every time out, until their offense can catch up to the pitching performances so far.

Honorable Mentions: Jason Kipnis’s rebound and Carlos Santana’s dismal start

Chicago White Sox- The White Sox are an enigma to me, as I thought they had the components this year to really assert themselves as one of the better teams in baseball. But for fantasy owners and fans, it is clear that the hype has surpassed the actual talent on the team. The crazy thing about it all though is that the White Sox have a 1-4 SP wise that most teams would take in a heartbeat, yet they still have not been able to get over the hump.

Due to the performances of Sale,Samardzija,Quintana,and Rodon, combined with the solid closing efforts from David Robertson, I do not have any negative reactions to the main fantasy pitching contributors. For me, my sole reaction is directed towards the complete ineptitude of the White Sox lineup so far. Jose Abreu has been fine even with only 14 HR’s, as I doubt he sees much to hit anyway without any resemblance of protection behind him.

Therefore, Adam Eaton, Adam LaRoche, Alexei Ramirez and Melky Cabrera, are the fantasy players that most owners expected more out of. They have all struggled and the rest of the White Sox lineup holds no fantasy value as well, so to see the absolute lack of production of these normally drafted players, has to incite some sort of reaction in all owners.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Sale’s dominance and Adam LaRoche’s power outage