AL Central Update

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Inside the Numbers: Gordon Beckham leads the Sox with 12 hits this spring. Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios are tied for the team lead with 3 home runs. Rios has a team high 8 runs batted in. 22 year third base prospect Dayan Viciedo is 10 for 23 to start the spring. Viciedo hit .274 with 20 home runs for AAA Charlotte before getting called up to the majors last year. In 38 games he batted .308 with 5 home runs. Jeffrey Marquez has made 4 relief appearances and has yet to allow an earned run in 7 1/3 innings while striking out 10. John Danks has thrown a team high 10 1/3 innings in his 3 starts and is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA. He does, however, have 8 walks.

Of Note: Jake Peavy has tossed 9 2/3 innings this spring following his 4 inning, 67 pitch outing against San Diego yesterday. Peavy was shut down last year following surgery to repair a torn tendon in his shoulder, and there were little or no expectations for him coming into camp this spring. While manager Ozzie Guillen still hasn't seen enough to declare Peavy ready to start the year on the big league roster, he has to be pleased with his progress. Opposing batters are hitting just .200 against him this spring and he's looked stronger every time he's taken the ball.


CLEVELAND INDIANS

Inside the Numbers: Travis Buck leads the Indians with 13 hits. Luis Valbuena leads the Tribe in home runs with 3 (he hit just 2 in 275 at bats last season) and is tied with Ezequiel Carrera for the RBI lead with 7. Matt LaPorta has struggled getting just 5 hits in 34 spring at bats, although 4 of those have been for extra bases. Fausto Carmona and Justin Masterson each have 12 strike outs in 12 innings of work this spring, but both pitchers have been hit around a little bit. Carmona has a 5.25 ERA while Masterson's ERA is 6.00. Still, both are head and shoulders above Mitch Talbot who has allowed 14 runs on 15 hits in 6 2/3 innings over 3 starts.

Of Note: Carlos Santana is going to be a player to keep an eye on in 2011. Having recovered from a knee injury sustained in a collision with Boston's Ryan Kalish last season, Santana is back and the Indians are hopeful that they will have him in the heart of their order this year. Santana hit .316 with 13 home runs and 51 runs batted in in 57 games with AAA Columbus before getting called up to the majors last season. With the Indians, he batted .260 with 6 homers and 22 RBIs before getting hurt. Perhaps most impressive is Santana's ability to get on base. Santana drew 37 walks in his 46 games and struck out just 29 times, good for a .401 on base percentage.


DETROIT TIGERS

Inside the Numbers: Austin Dirks is hitting .375 with a team high 15 hits this spring. Brennan Boesch is right behind him with 12 hits and is batting .324. Scott Sizemore has a team high 10 runs batted in and Casper Wells leads the team with 2 home runs. 23 year old Adam Wilk, an 11th round pick in the 2009 draft, has tossed 9 scoreless innings this spring and held opposing hitters to a .194 average while walking just 1 batter. 19 year old Jacob Turner, the 9th overall pick in that same draft, and the 15th ranked prospect entering 2011 per mlb.com, has made a pair of starts for the Tigers this spring and allowed just 1 earned run over 6 innings.

Of Note: The Tigers have to be very happy with how their rotation appears to be forming up. Phil Coke, after starting just 1 game in his previous 3 major league seasons, has made a team high 4 starts this spring, leads the team in innings with 13 and has posted a 1.38 ERA. Rick Porcello, just 22, comes back from his 3rd season as a major leaguer having won at least 10 games in each of his first two seasons. Porcello has a 3.55 ERA in 4 spring appearances. Hard throwing Max Scherzer won 12 games last year, his first season with Detroit after coming over from Arizona. Scherzer struck out 184 hitters last year in 195 2/3 innings of work. Then there's Brad Penny who's looking to bounce back from an injury plagued 2010 season that saw him pitch in only 9 games. Penny, a two time all star with the Dodgers, has allowed 1 earned run in 10 1/3 innings this spring. And finally the staff ace Justin Verlander who has won 17 or more games in 4 of the last 5 seasons. Verlander has a 0.93 ERA in 3 spring starts. If these 5 can live up to their abilities, the Tigers should be right in the thick of things in the AL Central.


KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Inside the Numbers: Former Yankee Melky Cabrera leads the Royals with 15 hits in 29 at bats this spring and is tied with Billy Butler and Alex Gordon for the team lead in RBIs with 10. Miles Aviles (.467) and Mitch Maier (.538) are second with 14 hits. Alex Gordon has 11 walks in 12 games and his on base percentage currently sits at .550. Aviles, Maier and Jarrod Dyson all have 4 stolen bases for the Royals. Kyle Davies leads the team with 4 games started, 9 innings pitched, and 11 strikeouts. However he's also allowed a team high 15 hits.

Of Note: The Royals are hoping 27 year old Mexican right-hander Luis Mendoza is turning the corner this spring. In 7 2/3 innings over 5 games, he has allowed only 1 hit and not walked a batter holding opponents to a batting average of .040. This is vastly different from the numbers he's put up over parts of 4 major league seasons, particularly the last 3. In his career, Mendoza has allowed 92 runs and 122 hits in 84 1/3 innings. He has a lifetime 8.43 ERA and opponents have hit .333 against him. If you discount his 2007 debut with the Rangers when he had a 2.25 ERA over 6 appearances, his ERA skyrockets to 9.88. Not good. However Mendoza was fair in AAA last year (10-9, 4.10) and is coming off a strong performance in the Mexican Winter League (6-3, 2.11) so maybe this is the year he finally gets over the hump.


MINNESOTA TWINS

Inside the Numbers: Australian born Luke Hughes leads the Twins in home runs this spring with 4 as he looks to break camp with the major league club for the first time. Hughes also has a team-high 13 runs batted in, and is tied for the team lead in hits with Jason Kubel with 13. Jim Thome has just 1 hit in 16 at bats this spring. Justin Morneau has appeared in 2 games and is 0/4 with a pair of strike outs. Carl Pavano has thrown 13 innings over 4 starts and has yet to be scored upon.

Of Note: Joe Mauer is expected to return to action this week. The 4 time all star has yet to suit up this spring but still expects to be ready for opening day. The talk right now is that Wednesday he'll be in the lineup as a DH. Mauer batted .327 last year with a career high 43 doubles, but saw a drop in his power as his home runs went from 28 in 2009 to just 9 last year.