After today’s win and with the Indians taking their second loss in a row Detroit is now leading the AL Central. Today the Tigers combined to hit .371 having 13 hits in 35 at-bats in an offensive performance that is becoming expected. This wasn’t the case to start the year and back in mid-April we were reading articles about Sheffield and other Tigers hardships at the plate:

In addition to Sheffield, other Tigers regulars who have had a rough April include outfielder Craig Monroe (.200), first baseman Sean Casey (.170) and third baseman Brandon Inge (.125). The team ranks 23rd in both batting average (.239) and on-base percentage (.311) among baseball’s 30 teams.

Well, Gary Sheffield isn’t the Sheff of old quite yet but most of the rest of the team has warmed up greatly. At this point the Tigers are ranked 6th overall in team batting average, 10th in on-base percentage and 3rd in slugging. A far cry from April and a dramatic improvement. Below is a breakout of team batting average through today’s game:

One area they could improve is once they are on-base, they have the second most failed stolen bases at 12 in 30 attempts.