The reigning American League champions looked like they would be the team to beat again this year.  Not only did they bring in Torii Hunter to take over in right field, but they brought back their entire stellar starting rotation from last year, and of course their power hitters at the corner infield spots Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera were back, ready to lead the American League in hitting again.  Not only did the Tigers’ roster look as solid as any team, but also the usual main competitors in the American League all seemingly took steps backs this offseason.  The Yankees started the season without Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Curtis Granderson, the Red Sox lost most of their All-Stars in the trade to the Dodgers at the trade deadline last season, and the Rangers lost Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli to free agency.  After Sunday night’s loss to the Orioles, the Tigers are only 30-25, and only half of a game up on the surprising Cleveland Indians.  Over a third of the way through the season, Tigers fans might start to worry that the Indians are a threat to the AL Central title, rather than a team off to a lucky start.

If the Tigers have anything to worry about, I think it’s the Indians more than themselves.  30-25 probably isn’t where they pictured themselves at this point in the year, but I don’t this there is any reason to panic yet.  The starters are looking good, even though Justin Verlander’s ERA and WHIP are a little higher than normal, and his strikeouts are a little low, but he’s talked recently about how he was tinkering with his mechanics a bit, and his last few starts would suggest he’s back on track.  The rest of the rotation is looking just as good, and the Tigers will probably have a couple All-Stars this year from their rotation.

There aren’t many problems in the offense either, as Cabrera is leading the league in batting average and RBI again this year, and is second to Chris Davis in homeruns.  Cabrera has been by far the best hitter in baseball for a while now, and he is showing no signs of slowing down.  Fielder is having his usual year as well, with 11 homeruns, 44 RBI, and a .390 on-base percentage.  The Tigers have even gotten some surprise offense by Torii Hunter having a great year hitting .316, and Jhonny Peralta hitting .322.

Overall, the Tigers are still looking as good as they did last year.  They didn’t win a ton of games last year either, but when they got to the playoffs, they were a tough team to beat with an incredible rotation, and an unstoppable offense.  The Indians are looking good, but I’m not as confident that they will be able to keep their winning ways up throughout the whole season.  Justin Masterson has had a great start to the season, but the rest of the rotation has been pretty shaky, and the Indians have already had to have eight pitchers make starts for the team so far.  Cleveland has also gotten some offense from Mark Reynolds, and Carlos Santana, and Nick Swisher has contributed as well, but I just don’t see enough talent to keep the offense going over the whole season. 

The Tigers may not be running away with the AL Central, but they should put themselves in great position to make another deep playoff run.