AL Central Update

CHICAGO WHITESOX

Who's Hot: Alex Rios has just 3 hits, but all of them have been homeruns and he has a team-high 7 runs batted in. Alexei Ramirez is hitting .400 (6/15) with a pair of double and a pair of homeruns. 43 year old Omar Vizquel is 5 for 11 as he gets ready for his 23rd Major League season. Edwin Jackson, who was 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA after being dealt from Arizona last year has a 1.69 ERA through 2 spring starts.

Who's Not: Lastings Milledge (3/15) and A.J. Pierzynski (2/15) are off to slow starts at the late as is catcher Ramon Castro (1/10). On the mound Lucas Harrell has been roughed up allowing 9 hits and 6 runs in 2 2/3 innings over his first two outings.

Of Note: Jake Peavy has pitched in just 33 games over the last 2 seasons, but looked sharp in his first start of the spring tossing two hitless innings and walking just one while striking out a pair. The Whitesox are hopeful that he can return to the form he had in San Diego between 2004 and 2008 when he only had one season with an ERA over 3.00 and struck out 200+ hitters three times.


CLEVELAND INDIANS

Who's Hot: Luis Valbuena only has 3 hits this spring, but he's been making them count. Despite a .188 average he has 7 runs and 6 RBIs in 6 games and has as many homeruns (2) this spring as he had in 275 at-bats with the Indians last year. 23 year old outfielder Ezequiel Carrera leads the team in RBIs (7), walks (7) and stolen bases (3) while hitting .364 (8/22). Chad Huffman (8/14 HR), Travis Buck (8/17 HR), Lonnie Chisenhall (7/15 2 HRs) and Jack Hannahan (6/15) are also enjoying strong starts at the plate. Fausto Carmona (2-0 5 IP 1 R) and David Huff (5 IP 0 R) have both pitched well to start the spring for the Tribe.

Who's Not: Mitch Talbot who won 10 games a year ago for the Indians has had a rough go of things thus far this spring giving up 11 runs and 10 hits, 3 of them homeruns, in just 3 2/3 innings over 2 starts. Michael Brantley (1/10), Jayson Nix (1/10) and Shin-Soo Choo (1/9) have all gotten off to slow starts at the plate.

Of Note: Grady Sizemore continues on the road to recovery following surgery on his left knee last June. He has yet to play a game this spring and it seems unlikely he'll be in the lineup come opening day. The Indians are hopeful that he can return fully recovered and return to his 2008 form that saw him hit 33 homeruns and steal 38 bases.


DETROIT TIGERS

Who's Hot: Andy Dirks has a time high 11 hits already this spring including 4 doubles and 2 triples. The 25 year old outfielder hit .375 in a brief stint in AAA at the end of last season (just 88 at bats). For the year between AA and AAA he hit .296 with 30 doubles, 15 homeruns and 22 steals. Pitching wise the Tigers have gotten a number of solid performances to start the spring: Phil Coke (9 IP 2 R), 19 year old Jacob Turner (6 IP 1 R), Justin Verlander (5 2/3 IP 0 R), Brad Penny (5 1/3 IP 0 R), Rick Porcello (5 IP 0 R), Max Scherzer 5 IP 1 H), Andrew Oliver (5 IP 1 R)... And that's just scratching the surface. There's probably another half dozen guys that could be on this list.

Who's Not: Miguel Cabrera has had his off-field issues, but now he seems to be having on-field issues getting just 2 hits in his first 17 at-bats this spring. Brandon Inge is hitting just .200 (4/20) with 7 strikeouts and while Victor Martinez does lead the team with 5 RBIs, he's batting just .217 (5/23).

Of Note: The Tigers have to be happy with what they've seen from Turner throwing a pair of solid outings against the Blue Jays. The 9th overall pick in the 2009 draft was 6-5 in the minors last year over 24 games (23 starts) and had a 3.28 ERA and allowed opposing hitters to bat just .238 against him. Turner finished last season in Advanced A Lakeland so he probably isn't going to be ready come opening day, but his early success has to be encouraging for Tigers fans. Turner was ranked as the 15th best prospect coming into the season by mlb.com.


KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Who's Hot: Mitch Maier is off to a solid start this spring getting 10 hits in his first 16 at-bats. He's also stolen 4 bases in his first 7games which is 1 more than he stole in 117 games with Kansas City last year. Mike Aviles also has 4 steals and has scored 9 runs in 8 games with 4 doubles and a triple while hitting .500 (10/20). Kila Ka'aihue leads the team with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs and is hitting .389 (7/18) and 21 year old Eric Hosmer is hitting .462 with 2 homeruns and 6 runs batted in. Hosmer, the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 draft was ranked the #8 prospect by mlb.com entering the 2011 season. He finished the 2010 season in AA and hit .338 with 43 doubles and 20 homeruns in 137 minor league games. Luiz Mendoza who has a career ERA of 8.43 over 36 major league appearances has thrown 5 perfect innings for the Royals so far this spring.

Who's Not: Jeff Francoeur (3/16), Pedro Feliz (1/11) Chris Getz (1/11) and Brayan Pena (0/9) have all yet to find their stroke this spring. Everett Teaford who went 14-3 for AA Northwest Arkansas last year has allowed 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings of work over 2 games, good for a 38.57 ERA.

Of Note: The perpetually rebuilding Royals enter the 2011 season without former ace Zack Greinke. Greinke won 39 games for the Royals over the past 3 seasons, surpassing 200 innings and 180 strikeouts each year. His best season was in 2009 when he went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and struck out 242 batters in just 229 1/3 innings. He also had 6 complete games, 3 of them shutouts. But now he's in Milwaukee and someone else will have to step up as the ace of the staff. Jeff Francis, Luke Hochevar and Kyle Davies are the likely candidates, but I wouldn't expect any of them to turn in a Greinke-esque season in 2011.


MINNESOTA TWINS

Who's Hot: Jason Kubel has been red hot this spring hitting .533 (8/15) with 3 doubles, a homerun and 6 runs batted in. Thirdbaseman Danny Valencia is looking to build off his solid rookie year last year (.311 7 HRs 40 RBIs) and is off to a good start batting .500 (6/12) with 4 doubles in 5 games. Australian-born Luke Hughes leads the team with 2 homeruns and is tied with Kubel for the RBI lead. He's also batting .421 (8/19). On the mound, Nick Blackburn, Brian Duensing and Carl Pavano have each tossed 5 scoreless innings over their first two starts and are a combined 4-0.

Who's Not: Jim Thome is 0 for 9 so far this spring. Brian Dinkelman is just 1 for 15 and Jason Repko is 3 for 17. In 3 relief appearances Eric Hacker has surrendered 8 runs (7 earned) and 9 hits in just 3 innings.

Of Note: Twins sluggers Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau had not played a game prior to today. Morneau was finally cleared for his first action since July following a concussion and played today against the Pirates in a 'B' game while Mauer continues to work his way back from offseason knee surgery.