MLB · 1 year ago

Buy or Sell: Guardians or Royals Winning 100 Games in 2024?

Sportsgrid Staff

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Royal Pace
The only remaining player from the Royals' 2015 World Series team, 34-year-old Salvador Perez, is experiencing an incredible resurgence. The Venezuelan is hitting .296 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs, making him the second-best-hitting catcher in the AL, behind only Adley Rutschman.

Adding to this is Maikel Garcia, who is playing exceptionally well at third base, along with first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, giving the Royals a very defensively sound infield.

KC has only ever won 100+ games in a season once, with 102 wins in 1977. They may or may not catch the Guardians in the AL Central, but the fact they’re competing into mid-June is impressive.

Kansas City Royals 2024 pace: At 40-31 (.563), the Royals are on track to win over 90 games.

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Guardians and Royals Surprise Early
Could the American League Central be the most exciting division in baseball?

Before the 2024 MLB season, baseball pundits predicted strong performances from the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, and a fierce competition between the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Houston Astros in the AL West — predictions that have largely come true.

But the AL Central is a different story.

Many preseason rankings favored the Minnesota Twins to win the Central crown, but the Cleveland Guardians and (surprisingly!) the Kansas City Royals have more ambitious plans.

Forget just the AL Central; the Guardians and Royals are both vying to become the best team in the American League. So it begs the question: Could we see two teams with 100 wins in the AL Central this season?

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Strong Offensive Start in Cleveland
No team in baseball has a better home record than the Guardians.

They’re 21-8 at Progressive Field and an impressive 23-15 on the road.

Entering the 2024 campaign, the Guardians were known for their strong pitching, but José Ramírez is currently right there with Aaron Judge for the RBI lead in all of baseball with 62. First baseman Josh Naylor is 4th in the AL with 50 RBIs and 5th in home runs (17), just one behind his teammate Ramírez (18).

David Fry and Steven Kwan are among the top 1% in MLB for Weighted On-base Average (wOBA), according to Baseball Savant, at .437 and .431, respectively.
Bullpen is a Big Strength for Guardians
As a team, the Guardians pitchers have allowed the third-fewest runs (238), behind only the Yankees (223) and Orioles (232). According to FanGraphs, the Guardians boast the best bullpen in baseball, leading the MLB in WAR at 4.5, with a 20-7 record and an impressive 2.45 reliever ERA.

The Cleveland franchise has won 100+ games only three times in its history: 1954 (111 wins), 1995 (100 wins), and 2017 (102 wins).

Can they do it again?

Cleveland Guardians 2024 pace: At 44-23 (.657), the Guardians are on pace to win over 105 games this season.

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Youth Drives Royals
The Royals are off to their fourth-best start in team history, a considerable surprise given their pre-season projections.

The ZiPS projection system had Kansas City finishing at 73-89, and Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projections had them at 71-91.

Several factors contribute to Kansas City’s impressive performance so far, perhaps none more so than 23-year-old phenom Bobby Witt Jr. The star shortstop is competing with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto for the top spot on the Wins Above Replacement leaderboard every day.

Witt’s OPS is up nearly 100 points from last season, and he’s projected to end the year with an estimated 7-8 WAR.

Former first-round pick Cole Ragans has emerged as a legitimate ace, trailing only Garrett Crochet for the American League lead in strikeouts, with 98 in 79.0 innings.
Royal Pace
The only remaining player from the Royals' 2015 World Series team, 34-year-old Salvador Perez, is experiencing an incredible resurgence. The Venezuelan is hitting .296 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs, making him the second-best-hitting catcher in the AL, behind only Adley Rutschman.

Adding to this is Maikel Garcia, who is playing exceptionally well at third base, along with first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, giving the Royals a very defensively sound infield.

KC has only ever won 100+ games in a season once, with 102 wins in 1977. They may or may not catch the Guardians in the AL Central, but the fact they’re competing into mid-June is impressive.

Kansas City Royals 2024 pace: At 40-31 (.563), the Royals are on track to win over 90 games.

Stay ahead of the game and elevate your sports betting experience with SportsGrid.
Guardians and Royals Surprise Early
Could the American League Central be the most exciting division in baseball?

Before the 2024 MLB season, baseball pundits predicted strong performances from the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, and a fierce competition between the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Houston Astros in the AL West — predictions that have largely come true.

But the AL Central is a different story.

Many preseason rankings favored the Minnesota Twins to win the Central crown, but the Cleveland Guardians and (surprisingly!) the Kansas City Royals have more ambitious plans.

Forget just the AL Central; the Guardians and Royals are both vying to become the best team in the American League. So it begs the question: Could we see two teams with 100 wins in the AL Central this season?

Have all the intel you need? Free actionable info is one click away! Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Buy or Sell: Guardians or Royals Winning 100 Games in 2024?

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