A good start

The way the Tigers are playing now almost makes me forget about the bad season they had last year.  Almost.  The trade that they made last year with the Florida Marlins did not work out all that great for them, but it seems to have come around for them.  The first half of last season, Miguel Cabrera never looked comfortable at the plate or in the field, but found his groove after the all star game.  And then there is Dontrelle Willis.  There is a big mistake the Tigers won't ever get back.  

The new, younger talent they brought in and up has worked well.  Two starting pitchers in Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello have held their own and Ryan Perry is still very raw, but displays great potential.  The line up has great power, but now has speed and they are not afraid to run.  When we went to the game in Kansas City, they damn near pulled off a suicide squeeze.  It would have worked had the bunt not gone foul.  

The key to the early season success, I think, is the pitching.  It all starts with the new pitching coach, Rick Knapp.  He helped Verlander remember that he is, in fact, Justin Verlander:  Tiger Ace.  Knapp and Gerald Laird have done great things with this young staff and I hope they can keep it up.  

So thirty games into the season, they are seventeen and thirteen and just half a game behind the Royals in the central division.  If KC loses today (they are winning at the moment), the two teams will be tied for the lead.  They just need to remember that they are the Kansas City Royals, and that they belong in the cellar of the AL Central Division.