Can the Indians Keep Up with the Tigers All Season?

The Detroit Tigers are defending American League champions.  Last year, the Cleveland Indians were 68-94, 20 games back from the Tigers in the AL Central.  This year, however, the Indians are giving the Tigers a little competition within their division.  The Indians are currently 26-17 while the Tigers are 23-19.  You could contribute this to a lot of key offseason moves made by Cleveland, and if you did, you would be right.  Over the offseason, the Indians gave the boot to manager Manny Acta and hired Boston legend Terry Francona.  In addition to their new manager, the Indians also acquired some new tools on the field in the 2012 offseason, grabbing Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Drew Stubbs and Jason Giambi.  As well as their additions, a few players, including Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis, had breakout seasons in 2012 and showed what they could do.  But the breakout star for the Indians thus far in 2013 is Mark Reynolds.  Tied for first in AL home runs with 12, third in AL RBIs at 37, and coming through in all the big clutch moments in Cleveland.



Mark Reynolds



 

So I think its safe to say Mark Reynolds is one of the main reasons the Indians are doing so well, as well as Terry Francona.  But if you look at the Tigers, they are stacked.  Not only are they defending American League Champions, but they also have Miguel Cabrera, who just won the triple crown last year, Prince Fielder, Justin Verlander, and multiple other all-stars.  So if you ask me, the Indians should be able to stay up there with the Tigers for a while this season, but once the Indians mediocre to weak pitching staff goes down, I expect to see Cleveland go on a long losing streak of seven to twelve games.  The Tigers will pull ahead then, and by the end of the season I expect Detroit to have the advantage over Cleveland by five to ten games.  I just can't see the Indians doing anything without a pitching staff.  If they could get some talent in their rotation and bullpen before 2014, then I can see the Indians beating the Tigers in the AL Central.  They're already contenders without any pitching, just imagine what would happen if they added some.