Fantasy Baseball: April's Five Hottest in the AL Central

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Apr 26, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman

Mike Moustakas

(8) is hit by a pitch thrown by Chicago White Sox starting pitcher

John Danks

(50) during the first inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

It’s hard to believe, but April is already over, and even though the baseball season started a little late this season, hitters are approaching the 100 at-bats mark.

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That means sample sizes are growing large enough to finally start drawing conclusions and making sensible predictions for the remainder of 2015.

The American League Central was expected to be one of the most hotly contested divisions in the league this season and even though the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox are off to slow starts, the division has been very competitive through one month.

Coincidentally, the Indians and White Sox do not have a player on this list, perhaps indicating a reason they could be off to a slow start, but fantasy baseball owners with Royals, Tigers and even some Twins hitters are pleased with the April production.

Here are the five hottest April hitters in the AL Central:

Apr 29, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman

Miguel Cabrera

(24) rounds the bases after his home run in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 10-7. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

Cabrera fell passed the No. 5 spot in many fantasy drafts, and it’s hard to call him a first-round steal, but he outperformed other first-round fantasy stars like Andrew McCutchen, Jose Abreu, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista in April.

Cabrera hit .373 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 83 April at-bats. His OPS in the month was an incredible 1.091.

The Tigers first baseman has hit four of his five home runs on the road and is hitting .475 away from Comerica Park. On Thursday at Target Field versus the Twins, Cabrera went 3-for-5 with four RBI, hitting two mammoth home runs and a double off the wall.

It’s too bad fantasy baseball doesn’t have a category for home run distance because Cabrera would be dominating that statistic as well.

Apr 30, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (8) drives in a run with a double against the Detroit Tigers in the third inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

3B Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Royals

Moustakas is finally living up to the potential he had coming out of the minor leagues four years ago. Last season, he hit a career-low .212 with 15 home runs, 54 RBI and 45 runs.

Not exactly fantasy relevant.

He is, however, fantasy relevant this season, hitting .356 with three home runs, nine RBI and 19 runs scored. Moustakas is second among third baseman with a .942 OPS and is second in the entire league, behind only Mike Trout, with his 19 runs.

That’s tremendous value for a guy who had an ADP of 316.3 before the season according to Fantasy Pros.

Apr 28, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher

Salvador Perez

(13) hits an RBI single during the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

C Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

Perez, Moustakas’ teammate, received a little more attention in fantasy circles before 2015 coming in with the sixth lowest ADP among catchers.

With a hot April, Perez is outplaying that ADP and finished the month as one of the best fantasy options behind the plate.

He hit .326 with three home runs and 14 RBI in the month, finishing in the top three among catchers in each category. Perez is also a workhorse as he leads all catchers with 86 at-bats.

Perez doesn’t walk a lot, so that will keep his OPS below .900, but his other numbers are as consistent as they get for a catcher.

Apr 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Detroit Tigers shortstop

Jose Iglesias

(1) dives and attempts to field a ground ball from Minnesota Twins third baseman

Trevor Plouffe

(not pictured) in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

SS Jose Iglesias, Detroit Tigers

Moustakas is certainly a surprise at third baseman, but Iglesias probably takes home the cake for biggest fantasy surprise of the season.

Iglesias is slashing .377/.427/.536 and leads all shortstops in batting average. Additionally, he is second among shortstops in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, behind only Jed Lowrie, who went on the disabled list this week.

The Tigers shortstop also leads the position with five stolen bases.

He doesn’t hit for much power, one home run and three RBI in April, but he is proving to be more than just a gold glove middle infielder.

Apr 30, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins first baseman

Joe Mauer

(7) at bat in the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 12-2.Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

1B Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

If MCB did a list of hottest hitters over the last week, Mauer would definitely be on that list as he is hitting .423 with five extra-base hits, eight RBI, and five runs in his last six games.

The hot streak has raised his average to .318 on the season and 13 RBI. He leads the Minnesota Twins in both categories.

The problem, however, is none of those extra-base hits this week were home runs, and Mauer is still searching for his first round-tripper in 2015.

If Mauer still has eligible at catcher in one’s fantasy league, then he is a fine start for batting average, on-base percentage and RBI, but owners starting him at first base would like to see a lot more home runs.

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