The American league Central has been a very tough division to figure out.

Before the season many believed that this would be the best division in baseball. It had the World Series Champs from three years ago looking like they’d be very good this year (Chicago White Sox). It had last year’s AL runner-up the Cleveland Indians. The AL rep in the World Series two years ago looking even better this year (the Detroit Tigers) and the Minnesota Twins who are always a pretty solid if not very good team.

But at the beginning of this year the AL Central suddenly looked below average. The Tigers surprised everyonbe by losing the first 9 out of 10 games. The Indians had their winning streaks but their losing streaks too. The White Sox started off very sluggishly. And the Twins were very erratic as well. In fact, at one point there was only one team in the division with a record above .500.

Now the AL Central is really heating up. While the White Sox have struggled the past three weeks or so, the Twins have been red-hot. They have been smoking. The Twins have won 8 straight games heading into the games on Thursday. The Tigers have looked like they’ve turned it around as they’ve clawed their way back to just 3 games under .500. And the Kansas City Royals are even playing great ball - they’ve won 5 in a row.

It looks like this might just come down to the White Sox, the Twins, and the Tigers battling it out for the division. Perhaps even the Royals will challenge. And you can’t really count out the Indians either. So it certainly looks like things will be enjoyable and exciting in the AL Central as we move toward and past the All Star Break.