Detroit Tigers

Dontrelle Willis wasn't a one-hit-wonder. He wasn't a flash-in-the-pan kid who fooled hitters for only one summer.

He won 58 games before he was 25-years-old. He played a critical role for a World Series Champion. He nearly won a Cy Young Award.

Dontrelle Willis still has the physical tools to be a dominant major league pitcher—he is too young to have lost that already.  

What Dontrelle lost was the confidence, the swagger, and the bravado that he displayed on the mound as a kid in Florida.

As the first month of baseball comes to a close, the Tigers look like the team who could win the Central Division.

At this point, though, anyone could win it. With Chicago and Kansas City both producing good records right now, either team could take over the top spot.

Kansas City will fall off, just like surprising teams early in the year often do.

The end of April will start my monthly installment of who I think are the Tigers' pitching and batting MVP's.

Pitching MVP: Armando Gallaraga

Many think a stereotypical shortstop, is smallish, very swift, has a rifle for an arm, can barely bat his weight, and has little to no power.

That profile may have been a general resume for most in times past, but in today’s game things have changed remarkably.

The shortstops today have flexed their muscles. Hanley Ramirez and Jimmy Rollins are good for 30 homers each, and can still rob hits from deep in the hole.

Lists and rankings have been made plenteous. Who was the best shortstop ever, Honus Wagner?

Alright, I know this sounds crazy. You were expecting the Halladay’s, the Sabathia’s, or even the Beckett’s to be mentioned here.

But no; if the season ended today, I would say Detroit’s Armando Galarraga has been the most dominant pitcher in the AL thus far.

Welcome to DL's (Rudy Dominick and Johnny Lawrence) first weekly installment of Detroit Tigers information and analysis.  Each Wednesday, we will delve into all things Tigers. Read and digest, or skim and spit out our insightful banter.

Keep an Eye on...

Alfredo Figaro, Starting Pitcher—Erie Seawolves (AA)

Eastern League Player Of The Week  (April 13-April 19)

1-0, 12.2 IP, 9 K, 0.00 ERA

Drive-By Argument:  Best Free Agent Acquisition

Time has a way of stripping us of everything we love. It lures away our youth, diminishes our health, and steals our innocence. Sometimes, the latter of these is the hardest to take.

As Kevin Costner’s character Billy Chapel, of the Detroit Tigers, walked to the mound at Yankee Stadium during the ninth inning of the 1999 classic “For Love of the Gamem,” he stared at his baseball as if to ask for help.

Being 40 years of age and having played over 19 seasons, his youth was far from gone, his health was in question, and his innocence compromised.

Ryan Perry is giving hope to Tiger fans across Michigan. The confidence he's displayed and trust he's gained from manager Jim Leylend is more than any reliever did all of last season. Even as a rookie, Perry shows the confidence of a proven veteran.

In an impressive 8-2 victory over Seattle on Sunday, Perry topped the radar gun at times by hitting 100 mph, and would follow up these pitches with 85 mph change-ups.

His line for Sunday's game was impressive: 2/3 innings pitched, 19 pitches, 13 for strikes, two hits, one earned run, and one strikeout.

The Detroit Tigers are a much different team than they were this time last year; obviously they have a better record, but there are some fundamental differences between the two squads.

Notably gone are the heavy-hitters without much range, and in their place are smaller, faster players who emphasize defense over the long ball.

Last season, the Tigers were picked by almost every single baseball analyst to not only make the playoffs, but to win the World Series. They not only failed to make the World Series but failed to keep themselves out of last place in their division.

After starting last season 1-8, the Detroit Tigers are 5-4 as they encounter their first west coast trip of the season. In this trip they will play the Seattle Mariners in a three-game set, then head down to southern California to face the Los Angeles Angels. They will then head back to the Midwest to play a division opponent, the Kansas City Royals.

The Mariners are 7-3 and are on top of the American League West by two-and-a-half games over the Angels, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers.