Maybe the American League Rookie of the Year will come out of the Central Division after all. Houston's Carlos Correa has leveled off, while Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor entered Saturday batting .309 with eight homers and 34 RBI while playing smooth defense. And he leads all rookies with 3.4 WAR.
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Things have not been clicking for Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez, who was batting only .232 through 101 games. So manager Brad Ausmus has dropped him from the cleanup spot to No. 5 in the batting order. Ausmus said, however, that Martinez won't be dropped any further.
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One move that has worked out well for the Royals has been the addition of Ben Zobrist, who, entering Saturday, batted .315 since the trade and had a hand in both of Kansas City's runs on Thursday in its loss to the Twins. "He's just been a great addition to the team," manager Ned Yost said.
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White Sox slugger Jose Abreu is closing in on joining Albert Pujols as the only players to hit at least 30 home runs and drive in at least 100 runs in his first two seasons. Abreu entered Saturday with 27 homers and 86 RBI. Last season, he won AL Rookie of the Year honors while batting .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBI.
