Breaking Down the Remaining Schedules of the American League Central Contenders

Last year the American League Central was the most exciting division in baseball at the end of the season. The Detroit Tigers were holding off the Chicago White Sox in the division when suddenly the Minnesota Twins came out of nowhere and won the division.

This year the Chicago White Sox are nowhere in sight and instead the Detroit Tigers are holding off the Cleveland Indians. The Minnesota Twins don't look as good as last year and are seven games back but after the comeback they made last year I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they are still a contender.

What does the Major League Baseball schedule have in store for these three teams the rest of the season?

The Cleveland Indians have the best record at home (36 - 20) in the American League Central but their 24 remaining home games is less than both the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins. The Detroit Tigers on the other hand have the best record on the road (35 - 23) but have the fewest remaining road games.

So neither team has as many games at the field they prefer but since the Detroit Tigers still have a pretty good record at home (26 - 21) and the Cleveland Indians don't have a good record on the road (24 - 25), I'll give the edge to the Detroit Tigers.

The Detroit Tigers also have the advantage when it comes to the easiest schedule remaining and it gets harder as you go down the standings. The Detroit Tigers have 25 games remaining against playoff contenders, the Cleveland Indians have 30 and the Minnesota Twins have 32.

The Minnesota Twins could hang around for a little while thanks to five games against the Kansas City Royals in the next eight days but after that they play the Los Angeles Angels and seven games against the Seattle Mariners they might very well be done by August 22nd.