Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the season’s first full month coming to a close, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.

Through the season’s first two-plus months, six AL teams have reached 31 wins. Four play in the Central. After surprisingly sending three teams to the playoffs last season, a division that had been the league’s weakest for several years is emerging as, if not a juggernaut, at least a model of consistency and parity. It also appears to have graduated one team from the middle of the pack to a legitimate contender. Let’s take a look at how the AL Central stands on June 1st.

Top Position Player: Dillon Dingler (1.9 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Tarik Skubal (2.7 fWAR)

Detroit has found many unlikely contributors on offense this season. After a journeyman career as a utility player, Zach McKinstry has been a breakout performer in his age-30 season, slashing .266/.358/.410 while playing elite defense across the diamond. Dillon Dingler is fifth among all MLB catchers in fWAR. Spencer Torkelson appears to have finally materialized into the power bat the Tigers dreamed on when they took him first overall, swatting 14 homers in 236 plate appearances. Gleyber Torres is getting on base at a .389 clip. Most surprisingly, Javier Báez is back from the dead, holding down center field while hitting above league average for the first time since 2021.

But the primary reason the Tigers have emerged as one of the AL’s premier teams is its pitching. It’s hard to argue against Tarik Skubal, fresh off a Cy Young and leading the league in walk rate and strikeout rate, being the best pitcher in the AL. He threw his first shutout on May 25th, punching out a cool 13 for good measure.

Reese Olson and Casey Mize both have sub-3.00 ERAs. Late-inning relievers Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest have combined for a 1.74 ERA. After a playoff run last year that felt built on a house of cards, this year’s Tigers team has a strong foundation and a deep roster that positions them for continued success in a wide-open AL.

Top Position Player: Byron Buxton (2.0 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Pablo López & Joe Ryan (1.5 fWAR)

Byron Buxton is the most enigmatic player in baseball. His career 162-game average has him going 20-20 with 5.3 bWAR, an ability that earned him a nine-figure extension. But he’s only reached 100 games twice in his 11-year career. Now in his 30s, it’s astounding how productive the center fielder still can be when healthy. Buxton has hit 10 homers in 163 at-bats while still grading out as elite in the field. Statcast has him as the second-fastest player in baseball behind Bobby Witt Jr.

With the eternal caveat of whether the veteran can stay on the field, he can anchor the Twins on both sides of the ball year in and year out.

But, like with Detroit, the true anchor of Minnesota’s squad as they’ve rebounded from a 4-11 start has been its pitching. Joe Ryan, who’s been a solid contributor for years but seemingly never lived up to his full potential, is breaking out this year, posting a 2.57 ERA alongside a breathtaking 72:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. After a disappointing 2024 season, Pablo López and Jhoan Durán have both returned to form. Durán has been particularly dominant, allowing just three earned runs in 26.1 innings. While their offense could use some more firepower, there’s a lot to like in the Twins’ formula.

Top Position Player: José Ramírez (2.3 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Cade Smith (1.1 fWAR)

The Guardians have a middling offense and a struggling pitching staff. They’ve allowed 18 more runs than they’ve scored. They also happen to be six games above .500. How do they keep pulling the rabbit out of the hat?

The easiest answer is an elite bullpen that has helped them win close games. The Guardians have gone 8-4 in one-run games and 4-0 in extra-inning games, with Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and a resurgent Emmanuel Clase — who allowed just one run in 10 May appearances — dominating in the late innings. In a lackluster position player group, it also helps to have two stars. Steven Kwan has taken home three Gold Gloves in as many seasons and is hitting .309. After a slow start, José Ramírez has gotten red hot, hitting .393 with four homers (while swiping six bases for good measure) during a 21-game hitting streak that was snapped Friday.

The Guardians recently took three out of four from the Tigers, helping them keep pace in the division. They will remain an interesting team to watch as the season continues to unfold.

Top Position Player: Bobby Witt Jr. (2.8 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Kris Bubic (2.2 fWAR)

We should all be grateful to the Kansas City Royals for conducting a scientific experiment on our behalf — is it possible to win on pitching alone? Sure, they do have one of the best players in baseball, Bobby Witt Jr., who has a .833 OPS. Maikel Garcia has been even better by that measure and looks to be a cornerstone at third. But the rest of the offense? No one else who’s taken even 10 at-bats has a league-average OPS. Hunter Renfroe had a .242 slugging percentage in 108 plate appearances before the Royals put him out of his misery and released him. Never known for his plate discipline, Salvador Perez has a .263 OBP while managing just four homers. They’ve scored the fewest runs in the AL.

And yet the Royals are above .500. All it’s taken is a generational pitching staff. Their rotation has pitched to a 3.04 ERA, bested in the AL only by the Rangers. Perhaps even more impressively, their starters have thrown more innings than any other team in baseball. Kris Bubic has been a revelation, posting a 1.45 ERA through 11 starts.

He leads all pitchers in baseball with 3.1 bWAR, a statistic that relies less on the three true outcomes than fWAR and more on the one even truer outcome for a pitcher: run prevention. Veterans Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, each now in his mid-30s, have continued their success from last season that helped propel Kansas City to the playoffs. And, while the currently-IL’d Cole Ragans’ 4.53 ERA has been pedestrian, last year’s fourth-place Cy Young finisher has struck out 72 in 45.2 innings (yes, his FIP is lower than Bubic’s). And the team’s top three relievers by innings have combined for a 1.85 ERA.

Where has all that elite pitching gotten the Royals? Fourth place. They remain firmly in the hunt, but it’s hard to imagine them getting very far without adding some offensive firepower. Their top option may already be in-house — Jac Caglianone, who made his Triple-A debut on May 20th, hit five homers in four games last weekend.

Top Position Player: Miguel Vargas/Chase Meidroth (0.9 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Shane Smith (1.1 fWAR)

The runt of the AL Central litter, the White Sox entered 2025 with low expectations after their historic, 41-121 boondoggle last year. They’ve been… better? Miguel Vargas, Baseball America’s number-30 prospect before the 2023 season, is still just 25 and slashing a respectable .245/.321/.440. Chase Meidroth, a true rookie who came over from Boston in the Garret Crochet trade, looks like a legitimate on-base threat who grades out very well at short. Young arms Davis Martin and Shane Smith have pitched well out of the rotation. In a clear rebuilding year, these should be viewed as successes, providing the White Sox with players who could be part of the future or net back prospects if they continue to perform. And, hey — they’re only on pace to lose 112 games this year. Progress on the South Side.