Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Panic in Tiger Town

We are now a quarter of the way through this season and the Tigers are 20-21, three games out of the division lead in the AL Central.  I didn't expect a below .500 record 40 games into this season that is filled with World Series promise.  The offense, defense and pitching have all come under fire in the first quarter and all three have contributed to this sub-par record.  Some are ready to write the Tigers off. I won't go that far because I still believe they win the division but take a look at these stats and you tell me if it's surprising that the Tigers have struggled.



  1. The Tigers rank 11th in the MLB in team batting average hitting .257
  2. They are 23rd in the MLB in Team ERA with a 4.17
  3. They are 21st in the MLB in Fielding with a .981

Now by no means should this be surprising and here’s why. 

1.  This is a softball team; plain and simple.  Against pitchers that came from Liberty Park, the Tigers will put up monster power numbers.  If they face a pitcher with talent, they’ll suck.  Dirks has been a nice surprise and Cabrera and Prince are back above .300 and getting hot.  If Avila and Peralta can be 80% of what they were last year and we get the Austin Jackson of his rookie year, this team will be just fine.  I’ve got no worries for this offense as it’ll come around sooner or later.  Unfortunately I can’t say the same for their defense. Let me repeat myself, this is a SOFTBALL TEAM.  At the corners, Miggy and Prince are not known for their defensive skills.  Peralta is a traffic barrel and Rugburn shouldn’t be on the team.  The worst thing this team can do is hit.  No one expects them to be a gold glove caliber team but we should expect much more out of them offensively.  Just score runs.  I don’t care if they give up 10, as long as they score 11. 

2.      As Max Scherzer goes, so do the Tigers.  He is the X-factor this season no question.  If he pitches like he did on Sunday (7 IP, 4 H, 15 K, 1 BB) this team will run away with the division.  If not, then it’ll be a long 5 months of consistently inconsistent baseball.  Their bullpen also needs to right itself.  I don’t want to see Luke Putkonen or Colin Balester anymore.  I don’t want to see Papa Potato doing his dance moves after every out and I don’t want to see games lost because our relievers can’t hold a lead.  Verlander was two outs away from a third no-hitter and he’s looking more and more like the Cy Young winner from last year.  Fister and Porcello need to stay the course and if the Tigers can get 8-9 wins out of Smyly, they should be happy.  

40 games in and there plenty of season remaining.  The Tigers have a big series with Cleveland starting tonight.  Valverde and Jackson should be back and I expect them to take two of three from the Tribe.  This team in the long run will be fine; it’s just frustrating how they've played through the first quarter of the season.  

Let me know how you think the Tigers have done by leaving me a comment, checking me out on Facebook or tweeting @sportsinthe313
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8 comments:

  1. pachimoeMay 22, 2012 at 8:12 PM

    We need infield assistance like a fat kid needs cake. I realize he is terrible, but why didnt we throw a bag of bazooka gum to orlando hudson? Instead, where does he land? Blacksox. Watch him light us up when we play them next. I would much rather have him play the infield rather than the hodgepodge of rugburn, danny w, and santiago anyday!

    Furthermore, if the ol ball coach is not at least 10 games up at the start of august, he needs to go, and send tony larussa 10 million dollars to manage us to victory. Can you believe what the baltimore o's are doing right now? And their coach came from ESPN! I know the bobby v was there too, but the bo sox are terrible to begin with (just dont tell sean and his cockeyed beckett jersey tee that). I just dont understand why jimmy never gets critized for doing what he does...which is nothing! take a stance and roll with it...the only thing that is "consistently inconsistent" is him!

    lastly, im completely worried about our pitching, aside from JV. fister needs to get healthy, which i dont think he is yet, and porcello needs to get his head out of his ass. i like the scherzer x-factor approach, and i agree 100% with our entire relief staff. i dont understand why they are SO bad. if ricky continues to falter, like im assuming he will even though "hes still young", go get garza from the cubs.

    we will somehow back ourselves into the playoffs when we shouldve won the division 3 weeks ago...so im not totally in panic attack yet...but im getting irritated rather quickly.

    we are so close, yet so far away. is it nfl time yet?

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    1. Andy CooperMay 22, 2012 at 8:36 PM

      I hear you Pachimoe. The Tigers are a tough watch all together. They just haven't been the team I thought they were going to be, especially at the start of the season.

      The NFL can't come soon enough! What do you think about the Titus Young - Louis Delmas fight? You think the Ryan Broyles pick was made because the Lions brass are changing their minds on Titus???

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    2. pachimoeMay 23, 2012 at 4:32 PM

      aside from that game we went to during opening weeked, they have been atrocious to watch.

      id hate to think that broyles was drafted because titus is a loose canon, but who knows. titus is a sweet WR to have. i just hope he gets his sh*t together because he could be great with stafford IMO. im shocked delmas didnt fight back. only time will tell with him though.

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  2. DandoMay 23, 2012 at 9:48 AM

    I couldn't disagree more about Porcello. He's having a good year so far. Let us not forget that he is our fourth starter! The innings he's been lit up in all follow some botched double play or an error (cough brandon inge). When Porcello's been bad, it is solely because he's a ground-ball pitcher and the defense has been so bad that he's forced to get 5-6 outs/inning. Nobody can win like that. You guys make it sound so simple, arguing that "if every starter just pitches like Verlander, we'll be fine". You sound like Cleveland fans, you’re better than that.

    I think that the season is still extremely young and though there is reason for concern, we can't expect better pitching from the starters or better defense. The team is constructed as big boppers where they've sacrificed defense (and no speed on the bases). The bullpen is a legitimate concern. It should not be this bad after investing more $$$ into it during the offseason.

    I leave with this thought: In previous seasons the tigers have been notorious hot through July, but cooled so much after the all-star break that they limp into the playoffs. Last year, the played ho-hum baseball into July, then stepped it up and were one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs. They didn't end with a pennant but they did win a playoff series (and no game 163!). I'll take the doldrums into July and patiently for the hot-streak. With this lineup, IT IS COMING.

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  3. DandoMay 23, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    Also, I think it's funny that the Pistons have not received one vote for "Favorite Detroit Sports Team". DD and Bernard must not have voted yet.

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    1. Andy CooperMay 23, 2012 at 2:23 PM

      Did you check out my State of Pistons Address? Thoughts on how Joe D bombs this year's draft????

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  4. Andy CooperMay 23, 2012 at 2:22 PM

    Touche Dando touche! Although I will caution that I don't want to see this team fall 7-8 games behind the division leader. It's also troubling to see that Austin Jackson will be heading to the DL and they've called up another 4A player w/ minimal experience to replace him.

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  5. Jeff FMay 28, 2012 at 11:22 PM

    Im not going to say that I don't care how they do this year. Of course I want them to compete and do well, but I am really looking forward to next season when Vmart comes back. With him back int he lineup we will have the best middle of the lineup in baseball. And I assume that they will go out and fix the second base situation. I still don't really know what to think about Dirks. Is he the full time left fielder for years to come? I don't know. But if he can keep doing what he has been doing so far this season (and not another Boesch) 2-5 in the lineup is going to be just amazing! And add 1 to that if Jackson can keep this going and not fall back again like he did last season.

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