Indians & Tigers are Back! + MLB Rewind

I can now comfortably say that the Detroit Tigers have turned things around for the season. There were a few points along the way where they showed the team was headed toward a winning season many predicted, but the recent sweep of the Yankees in New York and at only 1 game below .500, Detroit is back in contention.

Fortunately for Jim Leyland and the Tigers, the AL Central has been far from the hyper-competitive division many experts predicted. Many predicted winning 90 games would probably finish 3rd as preseason estimates had Detroit and Cleveland both at 90+ game winners. Now they're knotted up at 14-15 with only the Chicago White Sox ahead of them at 14-12.

With the first full month of the season in the books, baseball is resembling normality at this point. However, Brandon Webb could still pass for Superman and Derek Jeter's .357 slugging percentage more closely resembles a typical batting average for the Yankee captain.

Here are a few things we know for sure at this point, and some questions that are unanswered.

What we know:
1. The Arizona Diamondbacks can pitch. With Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Micah Owings combining for a 14-1 record as starters the three are making major leaguers look silly at the plate. While they won't maintain that pace all season, they're not just getting outs, they're dominating people at this point.

2. Carlos Zambrano would be the best hitter on the Cubs if it wasn't for Derek Lee. Zambrano has a .421 slugging percentage and has 9 homeruns in the past 2+ seasons. And oh, by the way, Zambrano is 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA. That big contract the Cubbies offered up is looking a lot better than the $126 million forfeited by the Giants for Barry Zito.

3. Torii Hunter was a great addition to the Los Angeles Angels. Hunter is batting .299 with 55 total bases, second on the team and ahead of Vladimir Guerrero. Most importantly, Hunter is making it tougher for opposing pitchers to work through the middle of the Angels' lineup. No more are these a scrappy bunch of base stealers with one big bat in the lineup, the Angels are going to go as far as their pitching can hold up, and that appears to be to an AL West title.

Now for what we don't know:
1. Greg Maddux should get to win 350 before the All-Star break. For one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and the greatest of this era (I'll reference all Clemens proponents to the Mitchell Report), but the Padres are not giving Maddux any help. In his last two outings since reaching 349 career wins, Maddux has gone 7 innings of 4-hit ball without a run in the first (no decision) and 6.1 innings of 3-run ball in the second (loss). With Adrian Gonzalez as the team's primary offensive force, it's little wonder that Maddux, Young, Peavy and the rest will struggle to get wins this season despite having ridiculous ERAs.

2. Where John Smoltz will fall in the rotation by season end. John Smoltz just hit the 15-day disabled list and is reportedly going to be returning to the team as a reliever. While John Smoltz was the best closer in baseball a couple years ago, he is far too talented to be in that role. I have a lot of respect for someone like Mariano Rivera who can completely shut down the middle of a lineup in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Smoltz made a bigger impact throwing 8-inning gems than he ever can out of the 'pen. That said, who could blame a guy who consistently plays his heart out and rarely gets any runs from his team. Thank goodness for Atlanta that Chipper got off to a hot start (.410 average, 8hr) because the team is 0-9 in 1-run games so far this year. Switch that to 9-0 and theyd have the best record in baseball.

3. How long Roy Halladay's arm will stay on. The season is still young but Halladay has already thrown 4 complete games and leads the bigs in innings pitched. With a 3.26 ERA Halladay has looked sensational at times. Now for the downside; at 2-4 Halladay is getting no help and without the underproducing Frank Thomas, there is little pop left in the lineup aside from Vernon Wells. Already in last place in one of the most top heavy divisions in baseball, Toronto is going to need Halladay to continue throwing strong late into the season, but the amount of innings he has pitched already are going to catch up to him eventually.

The season is still young and there are a lot of moves yet to take place, but we're already primed for a big summer. Do you think the Yankees will miss A-Rod while Jeter is hitting the way he is? Hopefully for them they're not 10 games back when he returns.