Detroit Tigers are actually off to a decent start

Anything nearing .500 baseball is a welcome sight for fans of the Detroit Tigers.

This is a team that hasn't been in the playoffs since 2014, and the Tigers haven't even had a winning record since 2016.

World Series wins?

Forget about it.

The Tigers were swept by the San Francisco Giants in the 2012 World Series and in 2006, they lost 4-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Detroit's last banner was in 1984. That's a long time ago.

That's why anything close to .500 baseball feels good. How about .567 baseball?  Even better.

The Tigers are far from a sure thing just yet, but it is worth noting that Detroit has sneakily gotten off to a pretty good start in 2024. With its latest win over the Cardinals, Detroit is now 18-13 and has won four series in a row.

Sure, this is a team that has at times struggled offensively and it's not blowing anybody out — its run-differential is +7 with 123 runs scored to 116 given up — but it has a strong starting rotation led by Cy Young candidate Tarik Skubal, a great bullpen and it has somehow developed a knack for winning close games.

They Tigers are not really clutch, but A.J. Hinch's team is never out of it, and that means something.

Perhaps most importantly, though, they've found a way to get off to a decent start for the first time in a very long time and certainly for the first time in the Hinch era.

This is the first time Detroit has had a winning April since the 2016 season.

Now all the Tigers have to do is keep it up.