Current:Home > NewsMLB Misery Index: AL Central limping early with White Sox, Guardians injuries -MoneyTrend
MLB Misery Index: AL Central limping early with White Sox, Guardians injuries
View
Date:2025-04-18 02:52:55
We're two weeks into the 2024 Major League Baseball season and some of the division races are already beginning to take shape.
The American League Central, perhaps the "worst" division in baseball, was expected to be wide open with the defending champion Minnesota Twins considered the favorite but the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers having a real shot.
But the first few weeks have been rough for most of the division as the Twins (4-6) have struggled mightily and the Guardians lost ace Shane Bieber for the season. That said, the Guardians are off to a 9-3 start, trailed closely by the 7-4 Tigers and Kansas City Royals.
At the bottom of the pack, the Chicago White Sox were ripe to be strip-mined and things have gone from bad to worse with major injuries to some of their most talented hitters, starting the season 2-10.
This week's Misery Index takes a look at the AL Central's early returns:
MLB SALARIES: Baseball's top 25 highest-paid players in 2024
Chicago White Sox: Injuries piling up
The White Sox lost nine of their first 11 games and were crushed by injuries in the first weeks of the season with Eloy Jiménez, Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada all currently sidelined. Robert (at least two months) and Moncada (at least three) will be on the shelf for a huge chunk of the season.
Without some of their top bats, the White Sox have hit an MLB-worst seven home runs in their first 11 games.
“It sucks,” said White Sox outfielder Dominic Fletcher told reporters after Moncada's injury. “You hate to see guys go down, with Eloy and Robert as well, that’s a lot of good hitters who are missing."
Robert came into his own last season, a first-time All-Star with 38 home runs, 20 steals and a Silver Slugger award. Something of a South Side firesale is expected in 2024 – with Dylan Cease already out the door – but the 26-year-old Robert is under team control through 2027 on a team-friendly deal.
Minnesota Twins: No offense
Things went south on Opening Day when oft-injured Royce Lewis – expected to have a breakout 2024 season – suffered a severe quad strain (after hitting a home run in the game!) that will keep him out into May. Without their third baseman, the Twins have an MLB-worst .184 average in 10 games and a tough road trip starting Thursday visiting Detroit and Baltimore.
“It just gets magnified when it's happening day after day. It's tough to be in that spot as a team. There's some games out there you feel like you should have won. There's a lot of work to do on our end when it comes to approach as a collective group,” shortstop Carlos Correa said earlier in the week. “We've just got to figure out sooner or later. We don't want to be here half a season trying to figure out when we know we're capable of doing it a lot earlier.”
Correa is doing his part, batting .324 with a .923 OPS so far after a rough 2023 season, the first in his new contract with the Twins and left fielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff has also started the season well, going 11-for-34 with a 1.032 OPS. But there's holes all over this lineup with Lewis's replacement Willi Castro beginning the campaign 3-for-27 and veteran Carlos Santana off to a 4-for-32 start.
veryGood! (8333)
Related
- 2024 Olympics: Gymnast Ana Barbosu Taking Social Media Break After Scoring Controversy
- Biden's dog, Commander, bites Secret Service staff again
- Long COVID has affected nearly 7% of American adults, CDC survey data finds
- Winner of $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot claims prize in Florida
- 'Meet me at the gate': Watch as widow scatters husband's ashes, BASE jumps into canyon
- Bahrain rights group says 13 convicted over prison sit-in that authorities say was violent
- 'Home Town' star Erin Napier shares shirtless photo of Ben Napier, cheering on his fitness journey
- Britain approves new North Sea oil drilling, delighting the industry but angering critics
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Burkina Faso’s junta says its intelligence and security services have foiled a coup attempt
Ranking
- Breaking debut in Olympics raises question: Are breakers artists or athletes?
- Astronaut Frank Rubio spent a record 371 days in space. The trip was planned to be 6 months
- UAW president Shawn Fain has kept his lips sealed on some strike needs. Is it symbolic?
- Cher Accused of Hiring 4 Men to Kidnap Her Son Elijah Blue Allman
- Sonya Massey's family keeps eyes on 'full justice' one month after shooting
- Nebraska police standoff stretches into day 2 with hostage still trapped in home
- Michigan fake elector defendants want case dropped due to attorney general’s comments
- Apple leverages idea of switching to Bing to pry more money out of Google, Microsoft exec says
Recommendation
Connie Chiume, Black Panther Actress, Dead at 72: Lupita Nyong'o and More Pay Tribute
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gives Vermont housing trust $20M, largest donation in its history
Level up leftovers with Tiffani Thiessen’s surf & turf tacos
UAW president Shawn Fain has kept his lips sealed on some strike needs. Is it symbolic?
Breaking debut in Olympics raises question: Are breakers artists or athletes?
13-year-old Chinese skateboarder wins gold at the Asian Games and now eyes the Paris Olympics
As mental health worsens among Afghanistan’s women, the UN is asked to declare ‘gender apartheid’
Redistricting redux: North Carolina lawmakers to draw again new maps for Congress and themselves