DETROIT – The 2015 Major League Baseball season is just a week old, and already the new-look AL Central is flexing its muscles.

But it's not in the way that many experts predicted. After a slew of high-profile offseason additions in Chicago and the return of talented young pitchers in Cleveland, the White Sox and Indians were popular picks to hit the ground running and compete for an AL Central title.

There are still 156 games to play, but the first week of the season wasn't exactly what those two fan bases were expecting. The White Sox were swept off their feet in Kansas City, losing three games by a combined score of 21-7. Offseason additions Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche are hitting a combined .200 through six games while Jeff Samardzija looked awful (nine runs in 13 innings) during his first two starts as a White Sox.

Meanwhile the Indians, who bounced back from an Opening Day loss to win a series in Houston, watched their pitching staff get beat to a pulp in front of their home crowd for three long afternoons. Cleveland's team ERA is 4.42, with a WHIP of 1.49, after being swept by Detroit.

Again, the baseball season is only 3.7 percent over. But in a division that crowned its champion by just one game each of the last two seasons, all 162 games matter.

Despite all the talk that the Tigers' window has closed and the Royals' run was a fluke, last year's two AL Central postseason representatives are the lone undefeated teams in baseball.

Here's what we've learned about the AL Central since Opening Day:

Detroit Tigers (6-0)

Miguel Cabrera is finally healthy: Remember when Miguel Cabrera won back-to-back AL MVPs in 2012 and 2013? That Cabrera was missing last season, as Detroit's best hitter struggled to recover from an offseason surgery that sapped his power.

He had one of the best "down" seasons of all time, batting .313 with 25 home runs and 109 RBI. Cabrera hasn't been truly healthy since the second half of 2013, but now he again looks like an MVP-caliber player through two series. The 31-year-old is slugging .840 with two home runs, eight RBI and an on-base percentage of .586.

A tale of two pitching staffs: The Tigers got a huge lift from both Anibal Sanchez and Shane Greene in their first starts of the season, as they combined for 14.2 innings and allowed no earned runs.

Detroit desperately needs Sanchez to return to his 2013 form and take hold of the No. 2 spot in the rotation, while Greene will be asked to build on his solid rookie campaign in New York.

But Alfredo Simon and Kyle Lobstein were shaky in their first starts, both posting ERAs over 5.00 and lasting less than six innings. If Justin Verlander's comeback continues to drag on, the Tigers could face a major dropoff in the starting rotation after Nos. 1-3.

Bullpen holding up, for now: Detroit's much maligned bullpen had it easy through three games as David Price, Sanchez and Greene dominated the Twins. But in three tight games against the Indians, Angel Nesbitt and Tom Gorzelanny tossed a combined five scoreless innings for Brad Ausmus. The bullpen as a whole owns a 3.68 ERA, and Joakim Soria is 2/2 in save chances since Joe Nathan's flexor strain.

Kansas City Royals (6-0)

Can Yordano be an ace?: The biggest loss from Kansas City's run to the World Series was ace James Shields, who jumped ship for San Diego during the offseason. Now 23-year-old Yordano Ventura is the guy, and he's 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA through two starts.

But Ventura struggles to pitch deep into games, largely because of high pitch counts and a tendency for the organization to err on the side of caution with the young fireballer. Luckily, manager Ned Yost can hand the ball to the best bullpen in the league when Ventura makes an early exit.

If he can fill the gap left by Shields, the Royals' starting staff will be just fine.

Power surge: In their first playoff appearance since 1985, last year's Royals could do everything but hit the ball out of the park. K.C. ranked dead last in MLB with 95 home runs on the season and lacked a single 20-homer player on the roster.

This year, the Royals already have nine blasts in six games, including three from young catcher Salvador Perez. If Kansas City adds a legitimate power threat to the middle of the order, it'll crush last year's offensive totals.

New guy on the block: Alex Rios was one of the quieter acquisitions of the offseason, but he has a chance to make a huge impact on the AL Central race. The former Ranger is hitting .360 with seven RBI and two stolen bases through six games.

Chicago White Sox (2-4)

Rough first impression: Cabrera and LaRoche have combined for just nine hits through three games, while LaRoche already has 11 strikeouts. They duo has driven in a total of three runs, while Cabrera is still looking for his first extra-base hit.

Meanwhile, Samardzija has allowed nine runs in two starts and struck out just seven batters in 13 innings. The White Sox brought the former Cubs star to the South Side in hopes of having the top 1-2 duo in MLB.

Smooth Sale-ing: Chris Sale came back from a spring training injury to make his first start of the year Sunday and struck out eight hitters over six one-run innings. Sale allowed just five hits in the start and became the first Chicago starter to earn a win this season.

Since moving to the starting rotation in 2012, Sale has been a Cy Young-caliber pitcher. But he's had a tough time avoiding the disabled list and raises concerns with his violent, jerky delivery on the mound.

Cleveland Indians (2-4)

Gomes to the DL: Cleveland took a huge blow in the first week of the season as starting catcher Yan Gomes sprained his MCL and will miss 6-8 weeks, according to the team. The injury happened when Rajai Davis slid into home plate to beat a force out after a ground ball to first base.

Indians manager Terry Francona said Davis' slide was a clean play, but that does little to lessen the sting for Cleveland. Gomes is one of the best right-handed bats in the Indians' lineup and plays well behind the plate. Now he'll spend a good part of the first half recovering his knee.

Bargain shopping: The Indians somehow locked up reigning Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber for five years and just $38.5 million before the start of the season. Just days later, Carlos Carrasco inked an extension worth $22 million over four years.

Kluber and Carrasco are two of the most explosive arms in the Cleveland rotation, and now they'll play for the Tribe at less than $10 million per year until the end of the decade.

Jerry's World: It didn't take long for outfield prospect Jerry Sands to win the hearts of Indians fans, as his name reverberated around Progressive Field Saturday thanks to a pair of two-run doubles against the Tigers.

His first hit knocked Price out of the game and the second tied the score at 5-5 in the 8th inning. The 27-year-old sent the Indians Twitter account into fits of near incomprehension and likely earned a more regular role going forward.

Minnesota Twins (1-5)

They are who we thought they were: Yes, the AL Central is largely considered a four-team race, and yes, the Twins are the odd team out of that equation. After a 22-1 three-game pounding to start the year in Detroit, the Twins went to Chicago and blew a 4-0 lead in Game 2 en route to dropping the series 2-1.

Who's on first? Well, probably nobody: Through six games, the Twins have just one everyday hitter with an average above .215.

One.

Joe Mauer is batting .300 through six games, while Oswaldo Arcia falls in at No. 2 with a .214 average. Torii Hunter is 3-21 after hitting .286 last season.

Minnesota is hitting .197 as a team, with 15 walks and 49 strikeouts.

One man army: Tommy Milone pitched 7.2 shutout innings in Minnesota's only win of the season, but he's been a slim ray of sunlight in an otherwise dark room. In the other five games, Twins starters own a combined 8.75 ERA and 2.03 WHIP. Phil Hughes, pegged as the team's ace to start the season, lost his first two starts and allowed seven earned runs in 12 innings.

Remember, the Tigers jumped out to a 27-12 start last season before finishing just 63-63 (including the playoffs) down the stretch. Momentum can swing at any given moment during a baseball season, but the Tigers would rather be four games ahead of Chicago and Cleveland than four games behind.

Both the Tigers and Royals will go through rocky stretches during the course of the summer, so it's important to build as big a lead as possible.

The AL Central race has just begun, but the Tigers and Royals dominated the first leg.

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This week's games:

Detroit: 3 @ Pittsburgh, 3 vs. Chicago White Sox
Kansas City: 3 @ Minnesota, 3 vs. Oakland
Chicago White Sox: 2 @ Cleveland, 3 @ Detroit
Cleveland: 2 vs. Chicago White Sox, 3 @ Minnesota
Minnesota: 3 vs. Kansas City, 3 vs. Cleveland