1/3 of the way there

If the Tigers can get 6 more outs giving up less than 3 runs they will finish the first 1/3 of the year with a 23 and 31 record. Certainly that is nothing to get super excited about.

But I do see somethings about this team that are exciting (in a good way)-

• The starters' ERA is dropping. Including tonight's game the ERA for this week is only 2.35 for the starting 5.
• Jim Leyland is managing again. I say "again" because I felt that earlier this month he stopped managing and just hoped it would all turn around. Realizing that he has some great talent that he puts on the field everyday and he should be able to count on them to perform at a high level, I feel that he should have gotten more involved sooner. But, he is involved now- Jones was released, Cabrera is moved to 1st Base (and as of today to 6th in the lineup), Sheffield was taken out of Left Field. Even Brandon Inge is getting more playing time at 3B! I'm not sure what the "biggest" move was, but I put a lot of weight on the decision to bring Dontrelle Willis back to the bullpen and leave Galarraga in the rotation. In my eyes this was clearly a merit based decision. Galarrago currently has the lowest ERA of any starter on the team. He has 4 wins (despite having 2 fewer opportunities than the rest of the starting rotation). If Leyland continues to play those who perform over those who have higher paychecks then he is managing and the Tigers have a chance.
• The Tigers are "only" 7 1/2 games behind the first place White Sox. That is not where anyone expected them to be, but they can still win this thing (do I feel giddy after watching the Tigers beat up on Seattle again as I write this?). The White Sox have been hot lately, but they are only playing just above .500 ball. The American League Central is just not seeing any team take over. I think that every team (except the Tigers) has been in first place this year.

So there are some positive things to see here. They have proven that they can beat up on weak teams (Seattle, the Yankees(?!) and Texas). But they really struggle with better teams (White Sox, Boston, Arizona). They can score a ton of runs (19 in two different games!) but they can also totally fall on their faces. I've lost count of how many shutouts they have suffered (I think it's 8). See this article on how weird this Jeckle and Hyde thing has been. They have been outscored 261 to 274 so far. That has to change for them to really think about Playoffs.