The Voice of the Turtle, Episode 28: just beat the damned Royals

The Tigers have gotten off to a hot start, winning six of their first eight games -- including matchups against aces Jose Fernandez and Gerrit Cole -- and the numbers behind those wins look even better! They have scored at least four runs in every game and the bullpen looks (gasp!) passable, if not better.

We also look forward at the upcoming week of action, including a showdown with the red-hot Kansas City Royals. The Tigers have some decisions to make about their starting rotation, but their upcoming schedule doesn’t get any easier no matter how you slice it. There’s also some prospect talk mixed in, including Rob’s complete inability to pronounce the name "Jose Azocar."

But the best part? Brad Ausmus hasn’t raised HookSlide’s blood pressure through the first eight games, a prop bet everyone would have gone way under on before the start of the season.

• Topics in this week’s episode include:
• A little housekeeping to start the show
• Jordan Zimmermann is wonderfully boring
• The Tigers offense is one giant fire emoji
• Shane Greene’s cutter is unfair
• Whatever you do, sweep the Royals
• R.I.P. James McCann’s ankle
• More Brad Ausmus praise (and no, that’s not a joke)
• Masterpiece Theatre with Rob and HookSlide
• Prospects!

Contents:

2:52 - Rounding the Bases: dammit, Mike Pelfrey
40:29 - Warming in the Pen: there’s only one thing that matters next week
52:10 - High and Tight: every Central and Eastern division team needs to do this one thing
1:06:39 - Into the Mob Scene at Home: two Tigers prospects did one of the hardest things in baseball in the same week
1:21:55 - The 7th Inning Kvetch: the farm system still looks pretty good