First of all, sample sizes. Second of all, track records. And third of all, crappy April weather. With the necessary caveats out of the way, allow us to say this a month into the season: the AL Central is an offensive wasteland. Starting right here in Detroit.
Well duh, you say. The Tigers have been flailing for all of us to see. Their top four hitters in plate appearances have produced as many extra-base hits as ... Tigers castoff C.J. Cron. (Cron is crushing the ball in Colorado.) But Detroit isn't alone in its division. Entering Thursday, only four teams in the majors have scored fewer than 80 runs. Three of them play in the AL Central.
Perusing the Tigers lineup is like planning a road trip: which Interstate is next? You could take I-88 with Jeimer Candelario, or I-74 with Spencer Torkelson. You could even go coast to coast on I-40 with Jonathan Schoop. He might heat up by the time you arrive. The Tigers have five hitters with at least 40 plate appearances and a sub.-200 average, including Eric Haase (I-40) and Akil Baddoo (I-46), which feels like a ton as we head into May. It is!
Then again, the White Sox also have five. The Indians and Royals both have four. With due respect to the divison-leading Twins, who only have one, the AL Central is home of the sub-.200 hitter, a sanctuary for Mario Mendoza. There are 19 players in this division with at least 40 plate appearances and an average under .200, more than any division in baseball. And there are only six players with at least four home runs, fewest of any division in baseball.
The power outage is real. The Tigers are last in the majors in homers (10). The Royals are tied for second to last. With further apologies to the Twins, who are tied for eighth, the AL Central is swinging at fastballs with flyswatters. It's the only division that hasn't produced at least 100 home runs.
If you don't hit for average and you don't hit for power, you don't hit. Right now, the AL Central isn't hitting, last of any division by a wide margin in runs scored. The Royals (70), Tigers (72) and White Sox (79) are bringing up the rear in the American League, three sickly lineups passing a cold back and forth.
It doesn't mean that things won't change. Track records will correct small samples, warmer weather will heat up some bats. Candelario tied for the big-league lead in doubles last season with J.D. Martinez, Bryce Harper and Whit Merrifield. He didn't forget how to hit. Nor did Merrifield, a two-time All-Star who's stuck on I-51. The Tigers offense will eventually come around, and so will the AL Central. The Interstate never lasts forever.
But the further you drive, the harder it is to turn back.
