The Detroit Tigers are in second place in the A.L. Central with a 48-38 record which has them 1/2 a game behind the White Sox. The Tigers have really finished the first half strong and they need to keep up the good work to hang with the White Sox and Twins the rest of the year. Here is a look at the surprises and disappointments of the first half for the Tigers:

Pleasant Surprises: 25-year old lefty swinging rookie outfielder Brennan Boesch has come out of nowhere to give Miguel Cabrera solid protection in the batting order. Boesch has played in 65 games for the Tigers this year and he is 83 of 243 (.342 avg, .990 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 12 homers, 49 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Boesch isn’t the only surprise for the Tigers as 36-year old righty swinging RF Magglio Ordonez has his power stroke back. Ordonez has played in 75 games for the Tigers this year and he is 91 of 291 (.313 avg, .867 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 11 homers and 56 RBIs. The Tigers were hopeful that 32-year old righty reliever would be able to handle a move to the A.L. after spending his whole career in the N.L. He has passed that test with flying colors. Valverde has pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this year and he is 1-1 with 19 saves, a 0.92 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. He has only given up 16 hits in 39 innings for the Tigers this year. 29-year old converted starter Eddie Bonine has found a new lease on life in the pen for the Tigers. Bonine has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Tigers so far this season and he is 4-0 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.

Disappointments: 30-year old righty swinging catcher Gerald Laird is hitting like a pitcher this year. Laird has played in 52 games for the Tigers this year and he is 32 of 167 (.192 avg, .524 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Look for Alex Avila to keep getting more P.T. in the second half of the season if Laird continues to struggle. 33-year old righty swinging shortstop Adam Everett was so bad for the Tigers that they released him. He played in 31 games for the Tigers this season and he was 15 of 81 (.185 avg, .468 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. 21-year old righty starting pitcher Rick Porcello was really good as a rookie last season but he’s already in AAA. Porcello has started in 13 games for the Tigers this year and he was 4-7 with a 6.14 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He has given up a whopping 97 hits in only 70 2/3 innings this season. It’s disappointing that 25-year old righty reliever Joel Zumaya hurt himself so bad because he was pitching the best ball of his major league career. Zumaya pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this year and he was 2-1 with 1 save, a 2.58 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.

The Detroit Tigers got off to a fast start this season but they are fading a bit now. They are 7-5 on the season which has them in 2nd place in the A.L. Central, 1.5 games behind the Twins. The Tigers have been outscored 61-58 on the season now as the pitching has not been doing as well as they did earlier in the year. The Tigers need to get their act together this week on the road as they play 4 games at Anaheim against the Angels and then three games in Texas against the Rangers this weekend.

The Tigers are in first place in the A.L. Central with a 5-1 record, 1/2 a game ahead of the Twins. The Tigers have outscored their oppenents 35-22 so far this season as they have really been outstanding so far this season. But, all of there games so far have been against the Indians & Royals who are the whipping boys of the A.L. The good news is that the Tigers start another three game series at home against the Royals before heading out to Seattle for a three gamer against the Mariners. It should be another good week for the Tigers.

The Tigers should have swept the Royals in K.C. but two out of three ain’t bad. The Tigers outscored the Royals 17-10 as they hit and pitched well. The Tigers really demolished the bullpen of the Royals. The Royals’ pen was 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.57 WHIP against the Tigers this week. The Tigers will need to start hitting a little earlier in games if they want to keep winning because outside of Joakim Soria the Royals have the worst pen in the A.L. The Indians are coming to town today and they also are 2-1 on the season so the first test for the Tigers comes this weekend.

With all of the injuries the bullpen has suffered, Zach Miner has stepped up and been an unsung hero this season for the Tigers.  He has worked 32 games (1 start) for the Tigers this season and he is 3-4 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.  He has pitched 51.1 innings and he has allowed 52 hits, walked 21 batters and whiffed 31.  The Tigers are now 83-70 which has them 7.5 games behind the Indians and 5 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card.