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First off, congratulations are in order. The Kansas City Royals, longtime doormats of the American League, are AL Central champions, which is something they’ve never been. That has to feel good.

After ending their 29-year postseason drought last year, squeaking in as a wild-card team and streaking to Game 7 of the World Series, the Royals are now the undisputed top dogs of their division for the first time since 1985, when they made the AL West their home.

That was also the last time the Royals hoisted a Commissioner’s Trophy. 

“It’s very special,” manager Ned Yost said after the clinching game, a 10-4 win over the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday, per Fox Sports KC. “There’s like 25 guys on this team that weren’t even born the last time the Royals won a championship.”

Really, Kansas City’s seat at the October table has been reserved for months. They’ve been alone in first place since June 9 and haven’t let their lead slip under nine games since Aug. 3.

Now, it’s official. And the Royals can look ahead to the playoffs, which they’ll enter as ostensible favorites—with a few caveats.

Entering play Friday, Kansas City owns the best record in the AL at 89-63, two games ahead of the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays (87-65).

Even if they hang on to the AL’s top spot, however, guaranteeing home-field advantage throughout (thanks to the American League’s win in the 2015 All-Star Game), the Royals will lug some serious flaws into the autumn tournament. 

To begin, there’s uncertainty in the bullpen, which last year was one of Kansas City’s unassailable strengths. 

On the same day they clinched the Central, the Royals learned that closer Greg Holland, a two-time All-Star, is lost for the season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Holland has struggled this season with mixed results and diminished velocity, which were no doubt tied to the elbow. His successor will be Wade Davis, who owns a sterling 0.99 ERA in 63.2 innings. And Kelvin Herrera, in turn, will slide from seventh-inning duties to a setup role.

Herrera has had some hiccups, including a recent two-game stretch on Sept. 11 and 14 when he coughed up six earned runs in 1.2 frames. But he’s turned in three scoreless outings since, and overall sports a 2.74 ERA in 65.2 innings.

The loss of Holland, though, takes a potent weapon out of Yost’s arsenal. During the 2014 postseason, the Holland-Davis-Herrera three-headed monster pitched 28.5 percent of the Royals’ innings, as ESPN’s David Schoenfield noted.

Now, with Holland removed from the equation, Yost will need other members of his pen, such as righties Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar and lefty Franklin Morales, to fill the void.

The bottom line: The late innings won’t be as automatic for KC as they were in 2014. There simply will not be as many so-called six-inning games, which were formerly the Royals’ calling card.

Speaking of which, Kansas City’s starting pitching is also a source of consternation.

It begins with Johnny Cueto, the big trade-deadline cavalry. Since donning a Royals jersey, Cueto has gone 3-6 and surrendered 39 earned runs in 70.1 innings. 

He’s shown positive signs lately, going seven innings in his last two starts and picking up the win in Thursday’s clinching contest.

But the Royals are still waiting for the All-Star right-hander to flip into full-blown ace mode. 

That’s because the rest of the rotation is littered with question marks. Edinson Volquez is a passable No. 2. And Yordano Ventura has won seven of eight decisions since Aug. 1, but he carries a 4.40 ERA and concerns about his hotheaded tendencies. After that, things get especially dicey.

A dominant Cueto would ease a lot of worry. The Royals learned firsthand what a single stud can do when they ran into the Madison Bumgarner buzz saw last year. 

For now, though, KC’s pitching staff can’t be counted as an unmitigated strength.

OK, enough hand-wringing. Let’s talk about what’s working.

The Royals trot out an incredibly balanced lineup, which boasts the best team batting average in baseball and ranks fifth in the AL in runs scored. CBSSports.com’s Mike Axisa broke down Kansas City’s offensive attack:

Kansas City succeeds with an extreme contact-oriented offense. Their team 15.7-percent strikeout rate is not just the lowest in baseball this season…it’s the lowest since the 2011 Rangers struck out in only 14.9 percent of their plate appearances. The league-average strikeout rate this year is 20.3 percent.

The Royals are not just about slapping singles, however; Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Kendrys Morales provide power, Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar add speed, and [Ben] Zobrist and Alex Gordon add on-base ability.

Speaking of speed, the Royals—who rank second in the AL with 99 thefts—continue to run wild on the bases. 

And they can pick it with the best of them, with athletic, plus defenders littered across the diamond.

The blueprint Kansas City rode to the brink of a confetti-strewn parade in 2014 remains in place. The Blue Jays and their big bats are in the conversation, but the Royals look like the team to beat in the American League. 

If you’re in a worrying mood, however, they also look beatable. Let the games begin.

All statistics current as of Sept. 24 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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The inevitable crowning is finally upon us. With a 10-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, the Kansas City Royals clinched their first AL Central championship and first division title overall since their 1985 World Series run.

Mike Moustakas drove in three runs, and Johnny Cueto gave up three earned runs over seven innings of work to help the Royals clinch the division.

MLB shared the final out and the subsequent celebration:

Chris Fickett of the Kansas City Star captured the moment the team streamed onto the field in triumph:

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out the 2015 season marks the first time the Royals made back-to-back postseasons since 1984-85. Given that timeframe, it should come as no surprise they were ready to party, as Baseball Tonight highlighted:

Fox Sports Kansas City shared more of the celebration that spilled from the field to the locker room:

Manager Ned Yost put the length of time between division crowns into context, per Matthew DeFranks of Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City: “Like 25 of these guys weren’t even born the last time the Royals won a division.”

With Kansas City galloping well ahead of the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins, Thursday’s ceremony has been weeks in the making. The Royals were poised to clinch the division at some point during their final homestand of the season, which allowed the team to take a peek at the postseason. 

“It’s certainly a different feeling,” general manager Dayton Moore said, per Jeff Deters of the Topeka Capital-Journal. “Last year we were fighting for everything, and we still are. No one is going to give you anything in this game. You’ve got to go take it and earn it every single night. It’s very challenging to win a Major League Baseball game. But in the same mindset, you think a little bit into the future on what certain matchups might be if we are in the playoffs.”

Dan Plesac of MLB Network offered his congratulations:

Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star looked toward the inevitable party:   

Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller pointed at the team’s doubters:

With their playoff spot clinched, the Royals can now concentrate on landing home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. They are two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays through Thursday, which means there won’t be time to sit players out down the stretch. Both teams have looming intradivisional matchups, so it’ll be up to East and Central teams to help decide the top overall seed.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted it’s up to Kansas City to decide where postseason games will be played:

While clinching home-field advantage would prove helpful, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted this team has the right formula to win in any location:

If the Royals keep their lead, they’ll host the winner of the wild-card matchup, which is looking increasingly like a battle between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Houston and New York have both taken four of their six matchups against Kansas City during the regular season.

Of course, being an underdog is nothing new to this Royals roster. A year ago, it would have seemed impossible that the small-ball outfit would make a run at an American League championship and narrowly miss out on raising a banner. This year’s version is far different, featuring a number of All-Stars and high-profile midseason acquisitions meant to complete the title push.

Step 1 is now complete. We’ll see if these Royals have the same October magic as their predecessors in a couple of weeks.

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The 2015 season has been a disaster for the last-place Detroit Tigers, but their fans got something to cheer about Tuesday when Daniel Norris, Buck Farmer, Ian Krol, Drew VerHagen and Neftali Feliz combined to pitch 8.1 innings of no-hit baseball during the team’s 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.

As MLB on Twitter noted, Norris (who was part of the package Detroit received in exchange for David Price earlier this year) had a pitch limit in his second start since his return from the disabled list with an oblique injury.

In all, he threw 63 pitches through five perfect innings and struck out four hitters. ESPN Stats & Info pointed out Norris’ effort tied Anibal Sanchez for the longest perfect-game bid among the Tigers’ starters this season and also said Norris became the fourth pitcher in the last 100 years to throw five perfect innings without finishing the contest.

Farmer, Krol and VerHagen kept the no-hitter rolling, but Feliz allowed a one-out triple to Tyler Saladino in the ninth. Adam Eaton then drove Saladino home with a single to tie the game at one. MLB shared some of the highlights from the relief pitchers before Feliz gave up the first Chicago hit:

Feliz didn’t just blow the no-hitter, he blew the save. It was his sixth blown save of the year, and he boasted a 7.88 ERA with the Tigers this season entering Tuesday’s game. Given those lackluster numbers, Mike Peasley of 103.3 FM ESPN in Dallas was not surprised with the final inning:

ESPN Stats & Info highlighted how difficult it has been for pitchers to complete their no-hit efforts this season compared to 2014:

Eaton tied the game in the ninth, but he also ended the combined perfect game in the seventh. Krol came on in relief and proceeded to hit Eaton, although he escaped with two flyouts and a groundout and gave way to VerHagen in the eighth. At least the Tigers won the contest in the 10th inning after Rajai Davis tripled home Anthony Gose.

Had Detroit’s pitchers finished the job, it would have marked the first combined no-hitter since the Philadelphia Phillies did so against the Atlanta Braves in 2014.

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out this was not the first time Detroit had the fans on the edge of their seats entering the final inning this season. Incredibly, the Tigers could not finish the effort in any of those three contests:

The mere fact Detroit was within two outs of a combined no-hitter was surprising considering it was an abysmal 28th in the league in team ERA entering Tuesday’s game. Perhaps the staff can use the outing against the White Sox as a turning point heading into next season.

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The Kansas City Royals bullpen will be short-handed for the time being as closer Greg Holland recovers from a sore elbow. 

Continue for updates. 

Wade Davis to Take Over as Closer

Tuesday, Sept. 22

Per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com, Royals manager Ned Yost initially announced Tuesday afternoon that Wade Davis will serve as the closer “for (the) next few days” with Holland battling “tightness” in his elbow. Not long after that announcement, however, Flanagan reported “now Yost says Davis will close the rest of the way and playoffs.”       

It’s been clear for some time that something is wrong with Holland. The right-hander averaged at least 95.8 mph with his fastball from 2012-14 and had a 1.88 ERA with 284 strikeouts in 196.1 innings but hasn’t been as dominant this season with a 3.83 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.

Along with those decreased stats, ESPN Stats & Info noted on Sept. 19 that Holland’s fastball velocity this month is the worst of his career:

The good news is Davis can fill any role out of the bullpen, sporting a tidy 0.88 ERA with 70 strikeouts and 31 hits allowed in 61.2 innings this season. 

However, losing Holland to this injury and seeing his velocity drop the way it has should give Kansas City fans pause heading into the postseason. The Royals bullpen—specifically the trio of Holland, Davis and Kelvin Herrera—was the team’s biggest asset en route to the World Series.

Without one part of the three-headed monster pitching at his best heading into October, the Royals could be more vulnerable than they have looked at any point during the regular season.

Stats courtesy of FanGraphs.

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For the first time since 2010, the Detroit Tigers will not play postseason baseball, and it appears hard-throwing right-hander Bruce Rondon wanted to get an early start to his offseason. 

According to James Schmehl of MLive Media Group, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was not happy with the effort Rondon was giving:

Per Catherine Slonksnis of BlessYouBoys.com, Tigers catcher Alex Avila said, “To be a big part of this team, you have to be here” but did not go into specifics regarding Rondon. Slonksnis also reported Alex Wilson and Neftali Feliz will share the closer’s role in Rondon’s absence. 

Rondon’s performance on the field has left a lot to be desired, as the 24-year-old sports a 5.81 ERA and 1.613 WHIP in 35 games, though his 3.12 ERA in September is his best for any month this season since his season debut in June. 

The Tigers have been a disappointment this season. They were expected to compete for a spot in the postseason but currently sit in last place in the American League Central with a 69-81 record. 

Whatever happened with Rondon only magnifies the problems that have plagued Detroit and makes this offseason crucial for the future of the franchise. Dave Dombrowski has already left, leaving Al Avila to put his stamp on the team this winter as general manager and executive vice president of baseball operations. 

Whether or not that plan includes Rondon, especially in light of whatever happened that got him sent home, will be one of the key decisions for Avila as he tries to ensure the Tigers avoid another last-place finish after four consecutive division titles.       

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The veneer of invincibility that struck fear and intimidation into so many opponents has faded, and it has been replaced by a sense, real or perceived, of vulnerability.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to lose the advantage.

The Kansas City Royals bullpen, specifically the once-dominant three at the back end, is now vulnerable. This was the group that virtually carried the Royals into the World Series last season, making it tolerable for the team to have a rotation that pumped fear into the hearts of no postseason opponent.

That was left to the three-headed relief monster of seventh-inning guy Kelvin Herrera, setup man Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland. But over this second half of the season, there have been chinks in what was once viewed as an impenetrable part of the team, and that could have devastating effects on the Royals’ run at another American League pennant.

The problem came to light once again Friday night when Holland allowed two runs to the Detroit Tigers in the 12th inning, blowing his fifth save and pumping his ERA to 6.00 over his last 14 appearances (12 innings).

The #Royals appear to have a closer issue.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) September 19, 2015

“I’ve never not trusted you,” Royals manager Ned Yost said he told Holland last week, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. “I’m not going to start now.”

That was before Holland’s fastball velocity was in the 80s and he walked a guy, allowed a hit and threw a wild pitch while saving a game against the Cleveland Indians last Tuesday. That prompted a slightly different tune.

“Being fair, Holly’s velocity has dropped,” Yost told reporters. “But he’s always been a guy who has done it. Until he proves he can’t do it, he’s going to get the opportunity to do it. He’s earned it, over the years.”

But…

“If it gets to be an issue, we’ll evaluate it,” Yost added. “It hasn’t become an issue yet. People want to get nervous because he’s throwing 90 or 91 mph. That’s fine. But right now, it really hasn’t become an issue. If it does, we’ll evaluate it.”

Holland threw a clean inning two days later for his 32nd save, but then came Friday’s debacle in which he issued a bases-loaded walk and the walk-off hit. That obviously brought on questions about Holland’s role, ones Yost was not willing to answer.

Yost, as a manager with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Royals, has always been loyal to his players and will fiercely defend them to the media when they are struggling. He proved that to be true again after Holland’s showing against the Tigers.

“I’m done talking about Greg right now,” Yost snapped at reporters, choosing not to address the elephant tucked into the corner of the manager’s office. “I’m done talking about Greg tonight.”

If Yost is done using him at any point, the Royals have an excellent replacement.

Wade Davis is arguably the best reliever in baseball this season. He leads all qualified arms with a 0.88 ERA, is second with a 91.1 percent strand rate and is eighth in FanGraphs wins above replacement, although he is only that low in the strikeout-centric formula because his 10.22 strikeouts per nine innings rank 37th in the majors among relievers.

Davis, an All-Star this year and owner of a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 postseason innings last year, also has not allowed an earned run in his last 14 outings. He’s struck out 17 in that span.

For now, Holland’s role remains the same. But he is far from the closer he was over the past two seasons, when he saved 93 games with a 1.32 ERA, 1.59 FIP and 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings with an average fastball velocity of 96 mph, according to Baseball Info Solutions (h/t FanGraphs). During last postseason, Holland was absolutely filthy, allowing one run in 11 innings and striking out 15 hitters.

This year, Holland’s velocity has dropped to under 94 mph and even further down as of late. He has a 3.83 ERA and is striking out 9.9 hitters per nine. His strikeout-to-walk ratio has dropped dramatically to a career-low 1.88 from 5.08 over the previous two seasons.

Holland is not alone in these struggles, though. Herrera, a dominant bullpen arm at times in his career, was great in 2014. He had a 1.41 ERA and in the playoffs allowed three runs in 15 innings (1.80 ERA) and struck out 16.

He started out this year in the same form. In his first 55.1 innings, Herrera had a 1.95 ERA, and opponents hit .181 against him. But in his last 10 outings, starting on Aug. 22, the 25-year-old right-hander has a 7.71 ERA with eight earned runs allowed in 9.1 innings. The majority of that damage came in back-to-back outings on Sept. 11 and 14 when he surrendered three earned runs in each, but since then, Herrera has had consecutive scoreless innings without allowing a run, though he did give up a hit and a walk Friday.

Whatever happens between now and Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Royals, the fact is that the bullpen’s immaculate facade has cracked, aside from Davis. Holland and Herrera have had their skin pulled back, and instead of robotic parts, there are human ones.

That is enough to strip the Royals of their intimidation factor in October. And unless their questionable starting pitching steps up next month or both relievers return to last season’s form, that could be enough to cost the team late-inning losses when it can least afford them.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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While most sports fans were focused on the second week of the NFL season, Kendrys Morales had himself a day, picking up three solo home runs and a triple in the Kansas City Royals‘ 10-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the last Royals player with at least three home runs in a game was Danny Tartabull on July 6, 1991. The 32-year-old Morales also set the franchise record for most total bases in a game (15), per CBS Sports MLB.

Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City also unearthed this fun stat:

Morales’ first home run came as he led off the top of the third inning. His high fly to right gave Kansas City an early 3-0 lead. He got the Royals on the board again in the fourth with an opposite field shot over the left-field wall.    

Tigers reliever Jose Valdez managed to limit Morales to only three bases following a stand-up triple to right-center in the sixth, but Jeff Ferrell wasn’t quite so lucky as Morales collected his third home run:

Grantland’s Rany Jazayerli was disappointed Morales didn’t get one more shot in the ninth inning; he was one batter away from a sixth plate appearance:

Hitting three home runs in the same game is undoubtedly a major feat, but Bruce Schoenfeld of Travel and Leisure magazine highlighted an even more impressive accomplishment from Morales’ stat line:

Sunday’s game further enforces how shrewd an acquisition the veteran designated hitter was for the Royals in the offseason. As Baseball Prospectus’ Matt Sussman joked, it’s not as if Kansas City received a ton of praise when the deal first happened:

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus had already been on the receiving end of Morales’ offense enough to know how much he has helped his team, per ESPN.com’s Katie Strang:

Although this year’s Royals team isn’t quite so anemic when it comes to power, it was still 22nd in isolated power (.142) and 12th in weighted on-base average (.318), per FanGraphs, entering Sunday. Morales has done his part, ranking third on the team in home runs (18) and first in runs batted in (102).

The Royals are one of the best teams in the American League, but they could run into trouble matching the Toronto Blue Jays blow for blow in the postseason—should the two meet—if they couldn’t count on Morales delivering timely hits.

How he performs will go some way in setting Kansas City’s playoff ceiling.

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Omar Infante’s disastrous regular season for the Kansas City Royals may be over, as it’s unlikely he’ll play again before the postseason due to a back injury.

Continue for updates. 

Infante to Have MRI; No Return Timetable 

Saturday, Sept. 19

Per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star, Royals manager Ned Yost said Infante will be “out for a while” and did not offer a potential return date for the veteran second baseman. 

Infante told Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com he will undergo an MRI on his back Monday after the Royals finish a series in Detroit this weekend. 

The 33-year-old left Friday’s game against the Tigers in the fifth inning with an injury. If this is the end of his season, he did go out on a high note after driving in seven runs against Cleveland in an 8-4 win on Thursday. 

Unfortunately, that was about the only thing that’s gone right for Infante this season. He’s hitting .220/.234/.318 in 440 at-bats. 

The Royals had already reduced Infante’s playing time in the second half after acquiring Ben Zobrist from Oakland, so his absence on the field won’t impact the team’s quest to make a second consecutive World Series appearance.

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Chicago White Sox third baseman Mike Olt hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s 9-4 win over the Oakland Athletics, becoming the first player ever to homer for both the White Sox and crosstown-rival Chicago Cubs in the same season, per MLB Stat of the Day.

The 27-year-old Olt is just the 14th player and sixth position player to even suit up for both Chicago teams during the same season, with catcher Josh Paul (2003) the last to do so, per MLB.com.

Olt opened his season as the Cubs’ starting third baseman, with the caveat that top prospect Kris Bryant was expected to take over at some point in April or May.

Olt still had a nice opportunity to make an impression in the majors, until he was hit by a pitch during an April 11 game against the Colorado Rockies, then diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his wrist a few days later.

Bryant was called up shortly thereafter, and he quickly emerged as the favorite to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award, which he now appears to be a near lock for.

Olt, meanwhile, was unable to play in games for two months, then had an extended stint with Triple-A Iowa from late June through the end of August.

He posted a middling .265/.330/.460 batting line for Iowa while continuing to strike out at a high rate (30.3 percent of plate appearances), leading the Cubs to designate him for assignment Aug. 31 when they needed a free spot on the 40-man roster.

The White Sox claimed him off waivers Sept. 5, with manager Robin Ventura saying that Olt will likely get most of the playing time at third base for the rest of the season, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Even after Wednesday’s homer, the results so far have been unimpressive, with Olt striking out 12 times in 35 at-bats and owning a .257/.316/.343 batting line since joining the White Sox.

His power has never been in question, but he now has a whopping 131 strikeouts in 308 career big-league at-bats.

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As the Cleveland Indians cling to the fringes of the American League playoff scramble, their young shortstop, Francisco Lindor, has moved to the forefront of another race—the one for AL Rookie of the Year.

Lindor padded his resume with another big game Wednesday night at Progressive Field, going 3-for-4 with a booming home run and four RBI in a 5-1 victory over the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals.

Lindor is now hitting .317 with nine home runs, 41 RBI and an .835 OPS. And he’s been especially scalding in the season’s second half, as MLB.com’s August Fagerstrom noted:

You don’t need to know all the ins and outs of that stat, weighted runs created plus, to understand that hanging out in Yoenis Cespedes territory is impressive. (If you want a wRC+ primer, FanGraphs has a good one here.)

Cespedes has gone nuts, particularly since landing on the New York Mets at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Lindor, with less media hype, is right there with him. And just as the Mets’ masher is getting National League MVP chatter, Lindor belongs squarely in the AL ROY conversation.

Lindor’s chief competition for the award is another shortstop, Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros. Recently, I made a case for the Minnesota Twins‘ Miguel Sano, and he remains in the mix as well.

Here, let’s just toss the three players’ stats on the table:

Sano has the edge in OPS, but he’s played in fewer games and has spent most of his time at designated hitter, whereas Lindor and Correa patrol a premier, up-the-middle defensive position.

Correa has better power numbers than Lindor, though Lindor has been gaining in that department, adding nearly 40 points to his OPS since the beginning of September while Correa’s OPS has dipped 25 points in the same stretch. 

Where Lindor truly separates himself, however, is with the leather.

Prior to Wednesday’s action, Lindor’s seven defensive runs saved (DRS) was tied for fifth-best among big league shortstops, per FanGraphs. Correa, meanwhile, checked in at minus-two DRS.

Other stats, including ultimate zone rating (UZR), essentially agree. Lindor is the superior defender and already one of the very best in the game.

Correa enjoys the benefit of playing for a team that would be in the playoffs if the season ended Wednesday, though the Astros (77-69) have ceded first place in the AL West to the Texas Rangers and are now holding the second wild-card slot.

The Indians, meanwhile, are 72-72, four games off the wild-card pace. (Sano’s Twins, interestingly, are also in the hunt at 75-70, 1.5 games back of Houston in the wild-card shuffle.) The Tribe could still slip in with a crazy finish, and they have won 14 of their last 20. But the odds are long.

Voters, though, don’t generally give as much weight to postseason status when awarding Rookie of the Year as they do with, say, MVP. Neither of last year’s ROY winners—Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox—played for October-bound clubs.

So is Lindor now officially the front-runner? Have the 21-year-old switch-hitter’s smoldering stick and consistently slick glove vaulted him past Correa?

CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa stopped short of that assertion, saying only that Lindor’s play has ensured “that this is no longer a one-horse race.”

I’ll take it a step further and say Lindor is now the lead horse, by a nose. The season’s final two weeks and change will decide things, and even Sano could sneak ahead with a torrid finish.

But if Lindor keeps swinging it like he has since the Midsummer Classic—and picking it like he has all along—he’ll have a shiny new piece of hardware to stash in his trophy case.

“The level he’s played at and the consistency he’s shown is really exciting,” skipper Terry Francona said of his budding star, per Jordan Bastian and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. “I think now that he’s gotten a taste of it, you can see that it looks like he’s trying to understand more, the impact of each out. With the skills he has, it gets real exciting in a hurry.”

The Indians would surely rather have a crack at the postseason, given the choice. But a reigning Rookie of the Year in the middle of your infield is a pretty sweet consolation prize.

All statistics and standings current as of Sept. 16 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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