The Cleveland Guardians boast the best record in baseball at 72-49.
Before Thursday’s games, they led the Minnesota Twins by 4.5 games in the AL Central.
However, that lead was just 1.5 games at one point last week.
Things can happen rather quickly and suddenly in MLB.
The Guardians can’t relax, sit back, and enjoy what they have achieved because, in reality, they haven’t achieved anything yet.
Yes, the team looks much better than it did last year, but it won’t matter if they collapse in the last month and a half and lose the division, or worse yet, a spot in the postseason.
The most important thing to remember is that it’s not just the Minnesota Twins threatening to leapfrog the Guards in the standings: the Kansas City Royals are there, too, ready to pounce.
The Royals are a flawed team, like the vast majority of MLB squads.
However, they have made their intention to compete very clear both in the offseason and also at the trade deadline, when they acquired Hunter Harvey and Lucas Erceg to reinforce the bullpen, Michael Lorenzen to add to their rotation depth, and shortstop Paul DeJong.
Kansas City has some talented players and is led by a legitimate AL MVP candidate in Bobby Witt Jr.
They are six games behind the Guardians in the standings, which might seem like a lot but it’s not that much with multiple weeks to play.
Cleveland needs to keep up its current mentality and hunger to keep the other two squads at bay.
It won’t be easy, but the Guardians are in pole position to win the AL Central.
NEXT: Guardians Outfielder Enjoying Good Run Of Form Since Being Activated
