2020 MLB SHOWDOWN SET --- AL CENTRAL

 WE DID IT!!!! This is the last division of the 2020 MLB set and it feels great to get all the card out for everyone before the World Series is even over. So make your trip to staples, and load up on printer ink cartridge's or just make them print it all for you at your local, library, staples, fed ex , ups store. Best case scenario if you are feeling up to it, and have them laminate them for you as well. The AL Central was an exciting division coming into the season. Last years winners the Minnesota Twins made the improvements to become deeper, adding Kenta Maeda and Josh Donaldson among others to push the Central harder. The Cleveland Indians saw great strides from some young pitchers last season and saw them grow even more this current season. The Chicago White Sox went out and signed a ton of talent to come in and play with all their young up and coming players and  they were ready to compete now (and for the future). In this season, we saw all three of these teams take the division lead at some point and it really came down to the final week of the season to see who would fall where in the standings (and in the playoff picture). 

5. Detroit Tigers (23-35)

Batters: Shortened season may have been a blessing for some of the bad showdown teams this season. The Tigers have been perpetually bad the last few years, and they at least got to add a couple of OB 9s to their lineup this year. Candelario and Willi Castro at least give this lineup a puncher's chance against some of these stellar arms n the AL Central. It is also great to see Miguel Cabrera still putting a good card together, as it feels like he has been around forever.... but also that it's been forever since his 600 point card days in the early 2010s. 

Alsoooooo we know the corner graphic may not be the most current logo, but it looks awesome, ok?? We like it a lot and it pops in the orange!

Rotation: Consistent with most bad MLB teams, their rotation is very bad. Casey Mize made his MLB debut with high hopes, but this season wasn't kind to him at all. Their best starter is Spencer Turnbull -- a Tier 4, control 5 starter. In this division, he simply cannot match up with the other aces. Being surrounded by three 10 point pitchers in the rotation screams it is going to be a long season. 

Bullpen: Joe Jimenez isn't the ideal closer, but the rest of the bullpen is serviceable, and the Tigers will need every inning they can give to back up the weak rotation. Bryan Garcia leads the way and hopefully can deal with the pressure of being the guy to get this team out of tough jams.

 

4. Kansas City Royals (26-34)

Batters: The Royals offense falls to a very average area, but Salvador Perez is an absolute monster at the catcher position. Usually known for his defense, he brings the big stick, with extra bases starting at 12 on his chart. You also are not reading that wrong, Adalberto Mondesi has that many single+ on his chart, as every time this guy gets on base his manager is sending him to second. Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, and Jorge Soler bring a couple other 8 OB cards to this team, and they will need everything they can get from their big 8s with the weaksauce supporting them.

Rotation: After seeing Detroit's rotation and then seeing this one, it is very hard to see how they finished so close to each other in the standings. This rotation gives them a puncher's chance in divisional play. Brad Keller brings a great tier 2 card to lead the rotation, and Brady Singer and Kris Bubic back him up in the rotation with some tier 4 support. Danny Duffy is their weak link and will need to get that hot dice help.

 

Bullpen: Even better news for the Royals is that this bullpen can get some outs for you. Tier 0 Jesse Hahn is the big gun, but they also have two tier 1 in Kyle Zimmer (Cleveland Indians Bradley Zimmer's brother) and Greg Holland.  The rest of the bullpen can give the innings needed too as the worst options is a 5 control tier 4. The Royals bullpen can hopefully keep the games close enough for Salvi or Soler to pop one out of the park.

3. Chicago White Sox (35-25)

Batters: Potentially the best offense in the division, especially OB wise. Tim Anderson is tons of fun to watch with his explosive personality -- every big hit, his reactions are electric. Jose Abreu had a career resurgence this year, as he pounded the ball all season and put up potential MVP numbers. The debuts of Madrigal and potential rookie of the year Luis Robert got Sox fans rightfully excited, and doesn't this Luis Robert scream 00 Carlos Beltran rookie of the year card?? This offense can do a lot of damage to any team, and would be a fun offense to stat track for.  

Rotation: As if the offense wasn't enough here is Tier 2 no doubles Dallas Keuchel to lead the way for the White Sox rotation. Lucas Giolito brings the standard tier 3 card to give the White Sox the 2nd best 1-2 punch in the division. The other 3 starters will be counted on to piece together some good innings and get this team some extra wins along the way. I think overall, this team is the best team in the AL Central despite finishing third in the truncated season's standings.

Bullpen: Taking the Rays and A's out of the equation this could be the next best bullpen in the set. At worst they are the best bullpen in the division. Alex Colome had another stellar year locking down a tier 0 card and reliever of the year. Codi Heuer brings a tier 1 6 control and then Foster and Marshall close out the pen with tier 2 cards at 5 controls. Scoring late against this team is going to be very difficult, and in the first two turns of the rotation will just be simply difficult to score against all game. 

2. Cleveland Indians (35-25)

Batters: My beloved Cleveland Indians and their super frustrating/infuriating offense. Cesar Hernandez was a really nice pick up for the Indians and hit lead off for a while, until they randomly decided to move Francisco Lindor and his less-than-stellar-season-of-hitting back to the leadoff spot. Jose Ramirez continued to impress this season, and he is another player that is so much fun to watch play, as he just has a good time out on the field. The Lindor cutout is beautiful and his mask looks bomb, plus he got his OB up towards the end of the season after he was stuck on as a 5 ob for a very long time. Defensive catcher lovers, take in Roberto Perez in all his glory: a +14 arm, nailing 71% of potential base stealers this season. Are you willing to pay for him, even though he will do absolutely nothing on the offensive end for your team??

Rotation: The best rotation and 1-2 punch in the AL Central has arrived. Shane Bieber was absolutely filthy during the regular season this year. Sadly he didn't look that way against the Yankees in his post season debut. Once the Indians brought Zach Plesac back from suspension he continued his stellar season as well. Carlos Carrasco does nothing but create 5 Control out through 15 cards, he is very consistent and coming back from leukemia is even more impressive than his stat lines. Aaron Civale shore up the back end of the rotation and rookie Triston McKenzie made his debut looking really good, other than allowing a few too many home runs. 

Bullpen: Wild Thing James Karinchak embraced the Charlie Sheen character this season, debuting in number 99 and cutting his hair like him, while throwing 100mph for strikes. Cal Quantrill was a nice pick up in the Mike Clevinger trade and gives the Indians some good length out of the bullpen as he flip flopped between starter and reliever for both clubs. Brad hand closes out the good bullpen for the Indians as they should be able to maintain most leads that are turned over to them.

1. Minnesota Twins (36-24)

Batters: This Twins offense is going to feast on low rolls and mistake pitches. While they don't overwhelm you with a bunch of 9 & 10s, Nelson Cruz is scary and Josh Donaldson is as well. Those centerpieces are surrounded by tons of low OB boppers to clean up the bases if the pitcher makes a mistake. Leading this charge is potentially one of the most controversial cards of this set, Byron Buxton. Shortened season equals crazy things (I cant say it enough) and this crazy season generated a monster home run rate for him that is just shy of Barry Bonds in his 73 home runs season (9.62% HR rate). This card will not be getting the chart as much as Bonds, but when he does.... all he needs is a 9 to hit it over the fence. Unbelievably, dude had 130 AB and 135 PA with only two walks all season!!! Are you willing to take that gamble in a draft, I am sure most of you (and probably myself) will not.... but he's tantalizing for those of you playing with mistake pitch dice!!

Rotation: Another good rotation, as should be expected from a Division winner, and Kenta Maeda brings out his Kevin Appier look ( I was just made aware of this look recently in the discord and it made me laugh because we made this cutout a while ago), as well as his Tier 2 card to lead this club as its ACE. Jose Berrios backs him up as a tier 3 and then followed up by two tier 4s to finish off this Twins rotation. Pinedas photo challenges for one of the funnier facial expressions as well.

Bullpen: Two tier 1 relievers add great depth to the bullpen, and a tier 3 Tyler Clippard also gives them another useful option. The whole pen is useful, I love the option of Sergio Romo for the end of a lineup to get through it quickly with some good rolls. Clearly in this division, you need some good bullpen arms to carry you to first place in the division, as all of the last three teams have above average bullpens. 

That is it for the 2020 set as we eagerly await the end of the World Series and prepare for hot stove season to see which teams are looking to challenge again next year. A huge thanks to the crew here, Bob, Jeff and Peter for a job well done on the set. For those that have downloaded TTS, the 2020 set should be uploaded soon, and if you haven't downloaded TTS yet what are you waiting for there plenty of people looking to play some showdown on there. Check the discord for people looking to play games. As I said earlier I hope you all enjoy the set, and print it off and play some games. It makes all the hard work that goes into this worth it when I get tweeted a picture of someone playing with these cards, and I encourage any of you that do play with them to send me a picture on twitter of your games to keep the showdown conversations going! Keep an eye out for leagues to join with us and definitely, definitely reach out with your own Showdown stories, suggestions, and I hope y'all enjoy this set!