Tigers Week 7 Recap (20-24)

To echo my last weekly update, rough does not come close to comparing whatever the Tigers put on the field this week. They went 2-4 against the Indians and Pirates.  The offense continued to just be dead, and I have a hard time believing it all has to do with Austin missing for these 6 games. Instead of pulling closer to the Indians in the division they continue to dig themselves into a deeper hole. 

Of course the week started with one of the best pitching performances you will ever see.  Justin was one weak base hit away from his 3^rd no-hitter, and the offense came to life in scoring 6 runs on a Verlander start.  Then in the remaining 5 games the offense combined for 13 runs.  The starting pitching had 6 decent starts (4 quality starts), and the bullpen actually pitched closer to average than we have seen in a while. The terrible defense continued to show its face and the complete lack of offense just keeps frustrating me beyond anything else.  Before the season we knew our infield defense would be below average, so as much as stupid errors are tough to watch they are pretty much performing how we expected.  This team was built for one thing, to score runs… lots of runs, and through 44 games the random assortment of the Cleveland Indians lineup is outscoring the star-laden Tigers. Everybody is struggling at the plate right now.  Miguel is getting useless singles with 2 outs, Prince is swinging at anything, and the bottom of the order can double their average and still barely be hitting their weight. 

I will admit right here on May 24^th that maybe my expectations for this team were just too high.  I expected Avila to be the hitting catcher of 2011 not 2010, and so far his 2010 campaign is looking pretty good right now.  Peralta had a career year last season, and it was unfair to expect him to do that again.  Raburn’s hot spring gave me hope his first half woes would finally go away, but how wrong I was.  I feel like most pitchers just physically do not have the stuff to get Miguel out on a normal basis, but he has had some of the worst at bats that I have ever seen from him to start this season.  Both Prince and Miggy are walking half as much as they did just a year ago (yes that could be because both were intentionally walked a lot, and pitchers cannot offer free bases to back to back hitters), but Prince normally walks more than he strikes out.  This year he has fanned 31 times, and has walked only 15.  Austin Jackson is the only player right now that is exceeding everyones off season expectations, and guess what, he is injured with no time table to return.  Could it be that this team just is not that good?  What would happen if the Tigers don’t win the Central, don’t make the playoffs, or don’t win 81 games?

On the pitching front, Justin Verlander continues to be special, but even today with his average stuff gave up 2 runs.  That sounds like a great start, but he got the loss.  Yes, he is the best pitcher in baseball, but so was King Felix a few years ago when he won the Cy Young with a 13-12 record. Verlander cannot continue to be expected to pitch 8-9 innings of 1 run baseball.  That makes every inning a pressure environment which will wear him down faster.  Verlander should really not have a loss right now and be closer to 8-0 than 5-2.  When is Porcello and Scherzer going to become consistent, because if it isn’t soon then they both should offer some good trade value (possibly for David Price which Tampa has been rumored to be shopping). We cannot expect Smyly to continue his surprising start all season, which will mean Rick or Max has to step up and roll off 5 good starts in a row or 8 of 10.  Yes, Max just struck out 15 and it was very impressive, but what will he do on Friday?  Fister has been given some bad luck as well after he has come back from the DL. 

I know that there is over 100 games left of this season, but from what I have seen in the first 44 I do not like what I see.  The Tigers are just not playing good baseball, and they are really tough to watch with the lack of hitting and defense.  I hope they can turn it around and go on a winning streak, but I guess I would take back to back wins again. 

Looking forward, the Tigers continue their weak May schedule which will likely mean 2 more losses in Minneapolis even though this is a series that they could sweep without much effort.  Can Smyly bounce back from 2 average starts in a row? Can Scherzer follow up his 15K start with just a quality start? Can the offense score more than 2 runs per game against the little league pitching staff that makes up the Twins rotation?  Following up the trip to Minnesota, the Tigers head to Fenway for a 4 game series in Boston.  I will be present for the series opener, but at this point I have to be honest… I am not super excited to see the offense get shut down live.  It will be a tough game to sit through if Fister gives up 2 runs and gets hit with the loss.  Oh well, at least Red Sox fans are friendly, right?  Guess not.

Verlander & Schlereth of the Series (Indians)

Welp, this was an ugly week mostly due to rolling over and playing dead against the Indians.  When is this team going to turn things around, and if they do, will it be too late?

It is really difficult to choose a Verlander of the Series for this one because most of the team looked lost at Progressive Field. I will just go with the starting pitchers.  None of the starters (Porcello, Fister, Verlander) had career games, but they were by far better than anything else the Tigers put on the field for these 3 stinkers.  Porcello again was the victim of shoddy defense, Fister was hampered by a 29 pitch first inning then settled down and made one bad pitch to Hafner who put it in orbit, and Verlander just didnt have his change up working like he did against Pittsburgh but he still shut down Cleveland for the most part and was throwing 101 mph fastballs in the 8th.  The thing these pitchers have in common is the offense let all of these guys down. 

Schlereth of the Series is such an easy pick it is a little sad.  The Tigers offense was just atrocious, did they forget it in Detroit or are they just that miserable without Austin Jackson?  If that is the case, I really hope AJ comes back soon, I cannot take much more of this terrible garbage they call baseball.  After the 2nd game when Detroit left the bases loaded in both the 7th and 8th innings their batting average with the sacks full dipped to .129.  You read that right, .129.  I honestly didn't know it was possible to be THAT bad as a team.  Brandon Inge almost has as many RBI's from bases loaded hits as the entire Tigers team does to this point.  If you are feeling sick about that stat, you are not alone.  The Tigers left 29 men on base in 3 games and were 3-23 with RISP.  Folks, it cannot get any worse than this. 

What more does JV need to do to get a win... 8 IP, 7K 2 ER and he gets the loss.  I couldn't handle being a starting pitcher in those situations.

Looking ahead, if the offense does not pick it up against the worst pitching staff in the majors then I don't know what will.  Hopefully they can score close to 20 runs in the 3 game series against the Twins and get closer to .500 again. 

Verlander & Schlereth of the Series (Pirates)

Hello again.  The Tigers welcomed the Pirates to Comerica this past weekend, and Detroit finally wins a series.  The Pirates are the worst hitting team in the NL, but even with that fact, two of the Tiger's pitchers brought their A game to the park.  Let's get to the awards.

Verlander of the Series: I never thought I would need to say this when one pitcher goes a complete game of 1 hit ball (8 1/3 of no hit), but this weekend's award is a little competitve.  Scherzer had one of his best starts as a Tiger, striking out 15 Pirates over 7 innings.  It increased his lead of K/9 in the AL, and set the Comerica Park record.  The dude was dealing.  But I just have to go with Verlander on this one.  I was lucky enough to watch his start from the first pitch, and it seemed special after only the 3rd inning. Verlander was just dominant.  He was one bad luck ball away from having his third no hitter of his career.  This guy now leads the AL in almost every pitching category and has continued his 2011 dominance.  JV might have the largest expectations of any starting pitcher in baseball, and somehow he still finds ways to exceed them.  I am excited to see what he can do against the Indians on Thursday. 

Schlereth of the Series: Since I can't pick just one offense player here, I will just choose the offense in general.  Yes the Tigers are still batting .277 with RISP (4th in the AL), but they have struggled to get those clutch hits to push runners across all season.  That was the reason the Tigers lost the game on Saturday, they were 1-8 in this category.  I will put a little asterisk by that number though, because most of those chances were with 2 outs.  The Tigers just couldn't get runners on base early in innings, and it cost them a sweep.  Yes, I am probably nit-picking a little, but I had to pick something here.  Over the past week I have been impressed with the direction the offense was heading, and then Jackson got hurt.  He has been the catalyst all season, so it is very impressive the Tigers were able to win a series with DK in the leadoff spot.  AJ come back soon!

Looking ahead, the Tigers get their first shot at the division leading Indians and then head to Minnesota.  Again looking at the schedule (and the pitching matchups) Detroit could win 5 of these 6 games.  But, the games have to be played on the field, and if AJ doesn't come back soon the offense could have another tough series.  I just hope they can get back over .500 before they (and me) head to Fenway for the Memorial Day series.

Tigers Week 6 Recap (18-20)

Well saying it was a rough week for Tigers fans might be a little of an understatement.  The Tigers had 3 of the worst offenses lined up for 8 games (Oakland, Chicago, and Minnesota) so it seemed like a perfect time to continue the quality start streak.  Instead the quality start streak was broken and now the Tigers are on a non-quality start streak.  These 3 series were going to get Detroit back on track, and would likely let them jump Cleveland in the standings, but instead Detroit still has not won back to back games in over a month. 

Since the things that were encouraging about this 3-5 week are very few, I will start with my concerns first then try to end on a positive note.  The starting pitching had their first bad week of the season, and at this point the offense is not clicking enough to carry the load. There have been 4 non-quality starts in a row against lower quality offenses.  These bad starts have really hurt the bullpen as well.  Yes, everyone knows how bad they have been this season (losing the AL in ERA and WHIP), but it is tough to have to get more innings out of the pen than from the starters for more than a game.  At some point in Porcello and Scherzer’s career the light bulb needs to go off and they need to mature as big league pitchers.  Smyly had his first rough outing of the season, but you cannot be upset about that (unless you are a Phillies fan).  I know quality starts will not happen each night, but I don’t think 3 of 5 is asking too much. 

Everyone knows that the Tigers have one of the worst infield defenses in the AL, but so far this season they have seemed to be playing pretty average in the field (which is a compliment to Raburn, Miggy, and Prince).  So, maybe this season will just be the rollercoaster that the two games against the Twins was.  The team can go 2 weeks with an error every other game, and then for 2 games completely forget how to close their glove or throw the ball.  I still feel like the defense is just below average, but the last two games were really tough to watch.  At this point in the season I feel the most confident about the left side actually.  The Prince and Raburn combination leans toward butcher more often than I like. 

Finally, the hitting is up and down.  Detroit’s team batting average has been respectable this season, but their ability to drive in that clutch run has been lacking.  The top four guys can get on base, but there hasn’t been anyone behind them to knock them in.  The bottom 5 has to start to pick things up.  I know last season was a career year for Jhonny, but I thought Avila was more the .280 hitter from last season than the .220 hitter from his rookie campaign.  Also, just when it felt like the offense was beginning to click a bit, Austin is struck with an abdominal strain.  They list him as day to day, but if this is an injury that sticks with him for a while this offense could go back into hibernation.  Austin has been the best player on the field for Detroit this season, period.  I don’t even think you can argue it (and win).  He is the catalyst in wins and he puts so much pressure on the pitcher if he gets on base in front of Dirks, Miggy, and Biggy.  Come back soon Austin.

Ok, enough ranting, lets jump into something a little positive shall we?  Hmm, well there is not much here.  ESPN talked to Tom Seaver about pitching the other night, and I found the interview very interesting.  He said of the 35+ starts you make in a season, you only have your great stuff in 10 of them.  He said you just don’t have it in 5 or so depending on the pitcher, and the rest you might just have a couple of your pitches working and this is where you go from good to great.  Seaver said it is how you battle in those 20-25 starts with just average stuff that makes the pitcher.  Well, lately I have felt JV has been in that average stuff funk but is still good enough to pick up wins.  That is a good thing though because earlier this season he had his Justincredible stuff against Boston and Tampa and came out 0-1.  On Sunday JV brought his nasty with him to work.  It was his best start in a few weeks, and he again was must watch entertainment.  I am excited what he can do tonight.  Even though Fister got rocked for his first time as a Tiger, yesterday, it is still encouraging having him back in the rotation.  He can be simply dominant at times, and I just love how much he attacks the strike zone.  With Fister and JV pitching in back to back games, it should be able to rest the bullpen most weeks because these guys will get into the 8^th more often than they are pulled before the 6^th.

Like I mentioned a bit earlier, the top 4 of Jackson, Dirks, Miggy, and Prince are starting to click.  When AJ is getting on base like he has this season (with walks and hits) this offense is scary.  Did you know that AJ is leading the team in OBP?  Dirks has done what most of us expected Brennan to do, crush the fast balls pitchers have to throw him with Miggy and Biggy waiting behind him.  Andy is having the Boesch season of last, and is cementing his place in this roster.  Miggy and Prince both have had career long slumps at different points this season, but it has been impressive to see both of them fight through it.  They are the first ones at the ballpark taking bp, and it has paid off.  Miguel has taken more bad swings and has had some bad at bats this year, but he is still the best hitter in baseball and will again bat close to .330.  And the thing that I love most about the big fella is that he makes people around him better.  Last year VMart almost had a career year in terms of average and OBP batting behind Miggy Poco.  This year Prince is still batting close to .300 and is batting .400+ after Miggy gets on base.  If Cabrera heats up like the temperature, these two meat wagons can be very tough outs.

Overall, I never thought this team would flirt with .500, and I especially didn’t see them being 2 games under this late in the year.  I don’t know when the appropriate time is to stop using the cliché line of “It is still early, and baseball is a marathon” but I think it is close.  This team has to be more than a .500 team.  Looking forward, Detroit gets a visit from Pittsburgh starting tonight and then heads to Cleveland for the first meeting with the Indians.  By the time of the Week 7 Recap, Detroit could be in first place or by over 5 games back and in 3^rd place.  I have a hard time thinking this much talent will allow that to happen, but I am still a bit worried.  Instead of saying the Tigers should go 4-2 this week, like I have been this whole season (and then feeling angry when they go 3-3 or worse) I am just going to sit back and try to enjoy this week’s game. 

Anyways, happy Verlander day, I hope we can enjoy it with an adult beverage taking in this great weather and a much needed win. 

Verlander & Schlereth of the Series (Twins)

After another 2 gamer, the Tigers continue to frustrate anyone with any interest in this team.  Somehow they found a way to lose both games to the worst team in baseball.  One ugly stat was that going into the series, the Twins were the worst team in both hitting and pitching in the AL and they had the worst record in all of baseball.  Well 2 wins later they scored the most runs of any game this season and recorded a quality start, and they still have the worst record. Their 11 run outburst on Wednesday night accounted for about 10% of their offensive output of the season.   Someone pinch me, I have to be dreaming.

Verlander of the Series, well this award is interesting here.  Can I really give it to nobody? Well it is my blog, so I can do what I want.  As tempting as it is to just go with Rod Allen on this one for his first “Joe Mauer?” of the season, I guess I will just pick Andy Dirks.  He continued his hot streak batting in the 2 hole.  He got on base twice in both games and is still batting .400 in this new lineup.  I like Andy “The Neck” Dirks.

Schlereth of the Series, hmm, well this one might be the hardest award to pass out this season thus far.  Fister has his worst start as a Tiger, Porcello is falling into the Scherzer rut, and the bullpen continues to serve up beach balls.  But, I will go with the infield defense on this one.  6 errors in two games is brutal.  I don’t think it can get much worse actually.  Fielder continues to look like a TRex on first, and Miggy is still re-learning the hot corner.  Ryan “Sieve” Raburn continues living up to his hype, and JaHonny thought he would try to fit in with the rest of the rat crap pack. 

Looking ahead, the Tigers continue their weak May schedule with a visit from the Pittsburgh Pirates.  With the way the season is going so far, I would not be surprised if the anemic offense that is Pittsburgh suddenly plays like Hall of Famers for the weekend and puts up 30 runs.  JV is on the mound tonight, so that cant happen, right… right?  Detroit should sweep Pittsburgh, but the way the Tigers are playing just winning two will be tough. 

Verlander & Schlereth of the Series (White Sox)

This was a quick 2 game series, so the awards will basically go to the bum from losing game 1 and the hero from winning game 2.  I was listening to the game on the radio yesterday and thought Scherzer had wrapped up the Schlereth, but luckily for him the bats picked him up. 

Verlander of the Series: Prince Fielder.  Biggy just jumped from worst to first in 2 games, and it continues the streak of people competing for the Schlereth of one series and turning it around to win the Verlander the next.  All Biggy did was go 6-9 with 3 doubles in two games against the Sox.  The Tigers offense started to pick things up a bit in the Windy City, and you don’t have to look past the top 4 in the batting order.  Prince continued hitting near .400 following a Miggy hit, which is a stat that will be fun to watch through the summer, especially with Miggy going 14 for his last 28.  Prince’s home run totals have still been down to start the season, but I think he will have a big weekend in Comerica. 

Schlereth of the Series:  this is a tough one because Max is just so inconsistent.  You can tell within his first few batters if he has his good stuff or not.   Yesterday was not his best start.  Hopefully he can turn things around against the worst offense in the NL on Sunday. But I think this series belongs to Luke Putkonen.  Leyland went to the youngster to hold onto a 5-4 lead on Monday night, and he couldn’t do it.  One encouraging aspect was all of the hits were grounders that found a hole, but it still frustrating to see the bullpen continually come in and give up as many runs as the starters (in half of the time).

Looking forward the Tigers have a great chance to win back to back games for the first time in a month.  They have a great chance of going on a little winning streak here to be over .500 at the all important 40 game mark.  Except the way this season has been going, it seems like a good time for the Twins to come in and win 10-1 somehow.  Detroit should be able to go 4-1 in their homestand, and probably catch Cleveland by the time they have to face the Tribe for the first time this season.

Power Rankings #2

 This is my 2^nd installment of my MLB Power Rankings.  There are some surprise teams in the top 5, and some disappointments outside of the top 10. 

1.       Texas Rangers (23-12) have been nearly unbeatable this season, and they are as close to a perfect team as there is in the big leagues right now.  Josh Hamilton is on pace to hit about 1,000 home runs, and the lineup has been efficient enough to have runners on base when Hamilton is batting.  The AL West is terrible right now too, so Texas should just keep racking up wins.  The Rangers are trending UP.

2.       Los Angeles Dodgers (23-11) just keep winning.  It will be interesting to see how they do in interleague play because after Kershaw the starting rotation is pretty weak.  But with the injuries in the NL West, the Dodgers shouldn’t have a problem to keep their lead.  The Dodgers are trending NEUTRAL.

3.       Atlanta Braves (22-13) score a lot of runs.  This was a struggle to put the Braves this high after they looked inept last week when I watched them at Wrigley.  It would be exciting to see Atlanta keep the NL East lead throughout Chipper’s last season. The Braves are trending UP.

4.       Baltimore Orioles (22-13) are the biggest surprise of the season so far.  I don’t think they are as good as their record shows, but at this point I can only rank teams based on what they have already done and not potential.  They bounced right back against the Rays after getting bombed by the Rangers.  The Orioles are trending UP.

5.       Washington Nationals (21-13) still lead the majors in ERA.  It seems like every game they are pulling out a 2-1 win.  The interesting story here is how do you justify shutting down Strasburg after 160 IP if you are still in the playoff hunt? Injuries are piling up for the Nats, so at some point they are going to fade, right? The Nationals are trending NEUTRAL.

6.       Tampa Bay Rays (21-14) are my favorite team in the AL East, but they are still looking up to the O’s.  Every team in the AL are beginning to show extreme faults (except Texas).  Tampa just cannot score runs consistently enough to continue this winning percentage.  The Rays are trending DOWN.

7.       St. Louis Cardinals (20-14) are doing what they should against inferior competition in the NL Central.  It helps that Beltran is leading the NL is home runs and RBI.  The Cardinals are trending UP.

8.       Toronto Blue Jays (19-16) are still in the thick of things in the AL East.  The last place team in this division is probably the 2^nd best in the AL Central.  If the young Toronto pitchers can continue to fool hitters, they should push for the division lead soon.  The Blue Jays are trending NEUTRAL.

9.       New York Mets (19-15) still have a winning record somehow. David Wright seems to want one more big contract, and RA Dickey is racking up quality starts with that knuckleball.  The Mets are trending UP.

10.   New York Yankees (19-15) roster is falling apart by the week.  They lost their new star pitcher for the season, and then lost their old star closer possibly for his career. The Yanks will continue to score runs, but it doesn’t really matter if they cannot hold opponents under 6 runs.  The Yankees are trending DOWN.

11.   Miami Marlins (18-16) are the comeback kids so far this season, and Stanton seems to be heating up lately… good thing their stadium is still empty.  The Marlins are trending UP.

12.   Cleveland Indians (18-16) somehow are still above .500.  They seem to be doing just enough to win ball games.  They have played in more save-able games than any other team, which has resulted in Perez running away with the saves lead early in the season.  The Indians are trending DOWN.

13.   Detroit Tigers (17-17) have been the biggest disappointment this season.  The problem here is this record isn’t because of major injuries or bad luck, they are just playing poorly.  I still think they will turn it around, but I have moved away from following first pitch to final out.  The Tigers are trending NEUTRAL.

14.   Oakland Athletics (18-17) are bad, but still are above .500.  they are in the bottom third in every offensive category, but their pitching is saving them so far.  Luckily they have a reinforcement in Brandon Inge.  The A’s are trending NEUTRAL.

15.   Cincinnati Reds (17-16) have been their normal selves to start the year, disappointing.  They should push St. Louis for the division crown, but they will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. The Reds are trending NEUTRAL.

16.   San Francisco Giants (17-17) have been hit with the injury plague again, losing Kung Fu Panda and Brian Wilson this season.  Luckily their pitching staff and weak division should keep them in playoff contention throughout the season.  The Giants are trending DOWN.

17.   Chicago White Sox (16-19) are not nearly as bad as I thought they would be coming into the season.  Their young arms are talented and should be able to keep them competitive in the AL Central.  If they can find another bat to protect Konerko they could be a legitimate threat. The White Sox are trending NEUTRAL.

18.   Philadelphia Phillies (16-19) are still hanging around the .500 mark even without their best two hitters.  It is putting a lot of pressure on the pitching staff, and will likely wear them down quicker than usual.  If Utley and Howard can come back soon, the Phillies should be alright, but if not they will really need to look for some offensive help. The Phillies are trending DOWN.

19.   Houston Astros (15-19) get the benefit of the doubt here because there is nobody on their roster that is an everyday name.  yes they are really bad and will likely finish with close to 100 losses, but right now they are hanging tough in the NL Central.  The Astros are trending UP.

20.   Arizona Diamondbacks (15-20) are not reliving their special year of last, but have fallen back in their old habits. They are struggling to hit and pitch right now.  If Upton can turn things around, Zona should jump up in the rankings. The Diamonbacks are trending DOWN.

21.   Milwaukee Brewers (15-19) have been riding a roller coaster this season.  Their offense is reeling without Prince in the middle of the lineup, and the pitchers are struggling with the smaller offensive support.  Braun will have to carry them.  The Brewers are trending NEUTRAL.

22.   Los Angeles Angels (15-20) just got roughed up by their AL West rivals.  So far Texas doesn’t seem like they are too worried about the collection of talent in Cali.  Pujols is really trying to crown himself as the biggest bust ever, and the bullpen is still awful.  I am not sure why they didn’t keep Rodney.  The Angels are trending DOWN.

23.   Pittsburgh Pirates (16-18) are still just 4 games out of the lead in the NL Central division.  The Pirates need some offensive help, but I doubt they will trade for someone. Can the Bucs finish with 82 wins this season, I certainly hope so. The Pirates are trending NEUTRAL.

24.   Boston Red Sox (15-19) would be lower if they didn’t just pummel the Indians over the weekend.  One encouraging thing for the BoSox this season has been the emergence of their top 2 prospects.  This will likely be Youkilis’s last season in Boston.  The Red Sox are trending NEUTRAL.

25.   Kansas City Royals (13-20) are still a scary team even way down at number 25.  Their offense can get hot and put up 8 runs in a game, and their young arms can hold any offense down.  The problem is that Duffy is likely out for the season with a blown out left elbow, and if that is true the Royals will have company in the cellar with the Twins. The Royals are trending NEUTRAL.

26.   Seattle Mariners (16-20) are terrible, and if it wasn’t for the Tigers they would be in the bottom 2 on the league.  They are 5-1 against Detroit, and 11-19 against the rest of the league.  The Mariners are trending DOWN (because they are done playing the Tigers).

27.   Chicago Cubs (14-20) have no offense to speak of.  Theo Epstein has some work to do with this roster.  One thing is for sure though, if Epstein can turn things around, Wrigleyville will be a fun place to be.  The Cubs are trending NEUTRAL.

28.   Colorado Rockies (13-20) did not get much help from Jamie Moyer coming back from his retirement community.  The Rockies really have very little to be excited about right now and will likely be eliminated from playoff contention by July 4^th.  The Rockies are trending DOWN.

29.   San Diego Padres (12-23) might be eliminated from the playoffs by the next Power Rankings.  Pure awful.  The Padres are trending NEUTRAL (the basement is as low as you can get).

30.   Minnesota Twins (10-24) have more talent that the Padres, so they might be able to get up to 28 or so by the end of the season.  The offense struggles and their pitching lacks any depth or talent.  Not a good combination.  The Twins are trending NEUTRAL.