Bounceback Season for Detroit Tigers

In the 2006 World Series, Tigers starting pitchers set the baseball record for errors combined in the World Series. Remember, they only got five games to do it. In 2007, the Tigers were winning as Gary Sheffield joined the team, and all looked well until the Indians behind Travis Hafner, C.C. Sabathia, and Victor Martinez won 96 games and took the division by eight. I remember the projections for 2008 and I couldn't believe what was going on. I thought it was only possible for the Cubs to do what they did. After being projected to score 1000 runs for the first time, they lost the first six games of the season at home thanks to the Royals and the White Sox. They never recovered and went 74-82 the rest of the way.
However, in 2009, everyone is getting a glipse of the Tigers of old. Brandon Inge, expected to play tremendous defense and hit maybe 20 homeruns with around 60 RBI, has not only done the defense part like always, but he already has 17 homeruns and 49 RBI! And we're not even halfway through the season. Miguel Cabrera has shown a little less power than last year but should be on par with his season averages, like low to mid 30's in homeruns. Curtis Granderson plays great defense-as does Ramon Santiago and Placido Polanco at second and Adam Everett at short-and has 17 home runs with 13 steals this season. He will certainly make 20-20 this season and I would consider him for 30-30. The Tigers are 41-31, first place, leading the Twins by 5 games. They have done all of this without Sheffield and without a productive Magglio Ordonez. Maggs has lost his power stroke this season. Man, the pitching in the Motor City! One of the best rotations around has the luxury of giving way to the hardest-throwing and best bullpen in baseball. Justin Verlander (8-3), Edwin Jackson (6-4), and rookie Rick Porcello (8-4) all have ERA's under 3.60. Jackson has been a big surprise coming up in big games thus far this season. Joel Zumaya, Fernando Rodney, and Ryan Perry highlight the hardthrowers in the pen. Rodney is 16-for-16 in save opportunities.
Overall, I love the Tigers although they do play in a pitcher's park. I think the Twins will challenge the Tigers in September but never get first back, as the Tigers will win 93 games and take the AL Central. The Twins could take the Wild Card, I'm not sure though. In the playoffs, I think they are good enough to get to the ALCS, and possibly the World Series. No guarantees, though.

Cubs Earn Their Dreams in the Wishing Wells

Randy Wells, right hander out of Belleville, Illinois, is now one of the best lower rotation starters in Major League Baseball. Wells has a 2.57 ERA in eight major league starts in 2009, but has just one win to show for it. He has been the most consistent starter in the last month or so. Wells and his patented teeth-clenching-during-the-pitch has gone 13-4 in the last two seasons combined at AAA, not playing much in 2009. I think he is certainly showing that he has adjusted to the major league level much better than Sean Marshall. That is why the Cubs rotation should go like this for the rest of the season: Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Wells. I know the Cubs need the lefty in Marshall, but his reported dominance in the minors has never shown here. In fact, I don't believe we have seen Marshall make eight starts as consistent as Randy Wells has in a row. Marshall owns a 2.70 career ERA in the minors, while in the majors that number is 4.57. His K/9 rate is just 6.2 in the majors, 8.6 in the minors. I've noticed that his game relies on the strikeout a little too much considering 6.2 isn't the figure necessary for a successful southpaw who throws a huge curveball that should be keeping hitters off balance. The Cubs struggled with what to do about Marshall's stalling until Wells arrived. Although he has been getting no run support, I would count him in the league's top five number five starters, along the names of guys like Livan Hernandez.

Injury-Mangled Cubs Team Continues to Fight

The week in late May when the Cubs played a 6 game road trip with 3 against St. Louis and then 3 against San Diego was my hardest week as a Cub fan. It was terrible, and I thought it had been going on for a month. The first game was a complete game shutout by Joel Piñiero, just another ugly loss to the Cards. The second game saw the return of Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals' best pitcher on the staff who hasn't gone a full healthy season since who knows when. Carpenter was held to a pitch count allowing him to go five innings, three hits, no runs. The bullpen shut down the Cubs until the ninth, when Micah Hoffpauir hit an RBI single. The final score was 2-1 Cards, the first game was 3-0. In the last game, Adam Wainwright came an out from a complete game, but Ryan Franklin picked up the save in the 3-1 loss to the Cardinals. In San Diego, I thought they could turn a corner playing a bad despite hot team. The Padres came in and out of the series rolling. In the first game, Carlos Zambrano struggled in his return to the rotation and Jake Peavy handled the Cubs lineup finely. Their next loss was 3-1 with the first homer on the whole road trip belonging to Derrek Lee. It was progress, but only one run. In the next game, Reed Johnson hit a two-run shot, but that was it. The score was 7-2. Road trip totals: Cubs scored 5 runs in 6 games, or .83 runs per game. The opponents: The Cardinals scored 8 in 3 games, and the Padres scored 14 in the 3 games.
Thankfully, the Cubs actually did make it out of there. Back at home, of course, the pitching stopped working just as a tease on Monday night against the Pirates. A 10-8 loss was an offensive win, though. The Cubs did end up win 4 of the 7 on the homestand against Pittsburgh and the LA Dodgers. In June, the Cubs split two extra inning games with the Braves, then went to Cincy where Zambrano threw a gem and started talking retirement. Big Z may be crazy, but he never fails to entertain people. He says he'll retire at the end of his contract, in the 2012 or 2013, at the age of 32 or 33. It was his 100th win Friday, and he got that milestone three years ahead of when Randy Johnson did, who just got his 300th. It's a shame because I know he has the stuff to win 300. People don't believe me, but he just has to get consistent. He had five walks against the Reds because his stuff was so good it surprised him. Oh yeah, he also hit a home run. Here's my opinion: Big Z, we love ya. We'd love to see you pitch for us until around 2020, but if you really want to retire, then that is best for you. Just one thing: Get us a ring first. GO CUBS GO!!! (Cubs 27-25)

New Hope for Rising MLB Teams

Like how Kleenex has branded tissues, the Tampa Bay Rays have branded surprise success stories in baseball. The teams I'm thinking about mainly are the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and San Francisco Giants.
(above, Marlon Byrd celebretes his April 9 home run with Andruw Jones and Nelson Cruz)
-TEX: The offensive beast learned how to pitch. Thanks to Kevin Millwood (2.93 ERA), Frank Francisco (9-for-9 in saves without yet allowing an earned run), and Matt Harrison (4-2 record), these Rangers have won seven in a row and have a big lead in the AL West. I'd like to see them make the playoffs for the first time in a long time this year.
-TOR: Picked by most to be 4th or 5th in the tough AL East, the team sits up at first. Huge surprise Aaron Hill leads the offense, and Adam Lind drives him in. Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball now, and Brian Tallet has got talent. People have counted out this team for the entire decade due to the Red Sox, Yankees, and now the Rays, so I'm glad to see them fight back.
-SEA: The abbrevation, 'SEA' means 'See Ya!' as in a homer for Russell Branyan. Although a recent slump has put them back at 18-20, the Mariners lost 100 games last year and saw no reason to get better this year. Felix Hernandez (53 K's in 51 innings), and Erik Bedard (2.53 ERA) lead the surprising pitching staff in suddenly sunny Seattle.
-CIN: Much like the Rangers, they couldn't pitch. For a while, they couldn't hit. Edinson Volquez and Jonny Cueto, hardthrowing young arms, are leading the pitching staff. I like this team although they will fall short of the playoffs.
-LAD: Although they're not really a surprise, it is surprising that they are the NL's best team even without Manny Ramirez. I like how Andre Ethier is having a breakout season. In 2006 and 2007, there was much debate about whether to play the young guys coming up like Ethier, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley. There's no debate now.
-DET: I actually love the Tigers and the best part of the deal is that Justin Verlander is back (finally). After some mediocre starts, he's dominating while getting run support from Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Brandon Inge. Pretty sweet! They should win the division if they can stay healthy.
-KC: This is the best story in the big leagues. Zach Greinke is dominating. Alberto Callaspo is hitting. Joakim Soria is shutting it down. They've got the winning formula in Missouri, so expect them to make a run at the wild card.
-SF: Bengie Molina is hitting the ball hard and now Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Barry Zito can pitch without worrying about run support. It could be tough to keep it going due to the spotty offensive streaks, but keep an eye on them.

Although some of these won't really come too close to making the playoffs, keep an eye on them this year and in future years for what they bring in their division. I could see the Dodgers, Tigers, and Rangers making the playoffs this season. Maybe the Reds, but they would need some help from the rest of the NL teams to take the Wild Card, because I don't think there is a chance that they win the whole NL Central.