On May 18th, the Detroit Tigers owned the best record in all of baseball at 27-12 - a game and a half up on Oakland for the top spot. In the AL Central, second-place Kansas City was a full seven games behind the Tigers, and Cleveland was in last place, ten and a half games back. Fast-forward about a month to the present day. Detroit is now 36-29 (9-17 in their past 26 games), is just one and a half games up on second-place Kansas City, and only five and a half games up on last-place Chicago. So, what happened? While the team has had some struggles offensively here and there, most of the blame can be placed on the pitching - on both the starters and relievers. Of this group, the first three names that spring to mind are: Phil Coke, Joe Nathan, and Justin Verlander.
While Joe Nathan is a veteran closer, he has had some arm troubles in the past and isn't a spring chicken any more. While the man has 13 saves to his credit, he's also blown several games, and has a 3-2 record due to some of those blown save opportunities. In 24.2 (2/3) innings, Nathan has allowed 27 hits and 13 walks, for an awful closer WHIP of 1.62, to go along with an ERA of 6.57. Phil Coke is often times used in a set-up role, and has eerily similar (and awful) numbers to show for it. In 23.1 (1/3) innings, Coke has allowed 31 hits and 8 walks, for a WHIP of 1.63, and an ERA of 6.56. When your set-up guy and closer average to allow a run in two out of every three appearances, that's never a good thing. As far as Justin Verlander goes, he's 2-5 in his past seven starts, where he's seen his ERA rise from 2.67 to 4.61. In that time, the former Cy Young Award winner has thrown 45.2 (2/3) innings, allowed 33 earned runs, 56 hits, struck out 29 batters, and walked 20 others. His ERA is 6.50 over that stretch, and his WHIP is 1.66. His strikeout to walk ratio is just 1.45 : 1 in those seven games. For the season, Verlander is 6-6 with a WHIP of 1.51, a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.72 : 1, and opponents are hitting .273 against him. Moving forward, if the Tigers should make the playoffs, it's critical that Verlander steps up his game. While Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez have been solid for the team, it's extremely beneficial to have that third quality starter when the playoffs roll around. Regardless if he does or doesn't, however, the team's bullpen will need to start holding leads with much more consistency than they've displayed over the past month. There's a reason Sanchez and Drew Smyly have a combined record of 6-7 with an ERA of 3.00, and that's an atrocious bullpen.
Offensively, the Tigers have been pretty solid, but will need to improve in a couple of areas if they want to pull away from the pack in the Central and have a chance at a World Series ring. Victor Martinez has been worth every penny this year. The guy is batting .333, with a slugging percentage of .610, and an OPS of .999. He's belted out a team high 17 homers, and has struck out just 17 times. Yes, while pitchers have the strikeout to walk radio, Victor Martinez has the home run to strike out ratio, and that's at exactly 1 : 1. After getting off to a slow start, Miguel Cabrera is back up to .324, with 12 homers, and a team high 55 RBIs. Ian Kinsler and Rajai Davis have been good pick-ups for the Tigers. Kinsler is third on the team with 122 total bases, and Davis leads the club with 19 steals (Kinsler is second with 7). Nick Castellanos has been hot of late and raised his average to .276. If Eugenio Suarez can continue his great hitting, that will be key to the Tigers improving and being a viable contender come October. The two areas the Tigers really need to improve are in centerfield and at catcher. Austin Jackson got off to a good start this year, but has been struggling ever since, and he's seen his average go all the way down to .252 as a result. Alex Avila is hitting just .218, and has more strikeouts (62) than total bases (57). If it weren't for his solid defensive play, there would be no reason for Brad Ausmus to start him over Bryan Holaday, who's hitting .333 in limited playing time this year.
Looking at the make-up of this team, this Detroit Tigers team appears to be better suited at winning a World Series than any of the clubs during the Jim Leyland era. Coming into this season, the team appeared to have one of the best starting rotations in the American League, if not all of baseball. With Cabrera and Martinez, they had two of the best production men in the majors. With Rajai Davis, the team had the element of speed which it so sorely lacked in years past. Also, the usually reliable closer Joe Nathan was coming off a year in Texas where he saved 43 games, posted an ERA of 1.39, and a WHIP of 0.90. So, when looking at this team's potential, they should be one of the favorites to win the World Series. However, games aren't won based on potential. If the Tigers want to get back to where they were a month ago and have a shot at winning it all, veterans Joe Nathan and Justin Verlander will need to pick up their game, a reliable set-up man will need to come forward, and at least one younger player will need to mature quickly, so the team isn't quite as reliant on the big bats of Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. The two men have been great to this point in the season, but they can't do it by themselves, can't run very well, and if the guys around them don't start hitting with more consistency, they may receive more free passes as a result.
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While Joe Nathan is a veteran closer, he has had some arm troubles in the past and isn't a spring chicken any more. While the man has 13 saves to his credit, he's also blown several games, and has a 3-2 record due to some of those blown save opportunities. In 24.2 (2/3) innings, Nathan has allowed 27 hits and 13 walks, for an awful closer WHIP of 1.62, to go along with an ERA of 6.57. Phil Coke is often times used in a set-up role, and has eerily similar (and awful) numbers to show for it. In 23.1 (1/3) innings, Coke has allowed 31 hits and 8 walks, for a WHIP of 1.63, and an ERA of 6.56. When your set-up guy and closer average to allow a run in two out of every three appearances, that's never a good thing. As far as Justin Verlander goes, he's 2-5 in his past seven starts, where he's seen his ERA rise from 2.67 to 4.61. In that time, the former Cy Young Award winner has thrown 45.2 (2/3) innings, allowed 33 earned runs, 56 hits, struck out 29 batters, and walked 20 others. His ERA is 6.50 over that stretch, and his WHIP is 1.66. His strikeout to walk ratio is just 1.45 : 1 in those seven games. For the season, Verlander is 6-6 with a WHIP of 1.51, a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.72 : 1, and opponents are hitting .273 against him. Moving forward, if the Tigers should make the playoffs, it's critical that Verlander steps up his game. While Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez have been solid for the team, it's extremely beneficial to have that third quality starter when the playoffs roll around. Regardless if he does or doesn't, however, the team's bullpen will need to start holding leads with much more consistency than they've displayed over the past month. There's a reason Sanchez and Drew Smyly have a combined record of 6-7 with an ERA of 3.00, and that's an atrocious bullpen.
Offensively, the Tigers have been pretty solid, but will need to improve in a couple of areas if they want to pull away from the pack in the Central and have a chance at a World Series ring. Victor Martinez has been worth every penny this year. The guy is batting .333, with a slugging percentage of .610, and an OPS of .999. He's belted out a team high 17 homers, and has struck out just 17 times. Yes, while pitchers have the strikeout to walk radio, Victor Martinez has the home run to strike out ratio, and that's at exactly 1 : 1. After getting off to a slow start, Miguel Cabrera is back up to .324, with 12 homers, and a team high 55 RBIs. Ian Kinsler and Rajai Davis have been good pick-ups for the Tigers. Kinsler is third on the team with 122 total bases, and Davis leads the club with 19 steals (Kinsler is second with 7). Nick Castellanos has been hot of late and raised his average to .276. If Eugenio Suarez can continue his great hitting, that will be key to the Tigers improving and being a viable contender come October. The two areas the Tigers really need to improve are in centerfield and at catcher. Austin Jackson got off to a good start this year, but has been struggling ever since, and he's seen his average go all the way down to .252 as a result. Alex Avila is hitting just .218, and has more strikeouts (62) than total bases (57). If it weren't for his solid defensive play, there would be no reason for Brad Ausmus to start him over Bryan Holaday, who's hitting .333 in limited playing time this year.
Looking at the make-up of this team, this Detroit Tigers team appears to be better suited at winning a World Series than any of the clubs during the Jim Leyland era. Coming into this season, the team appeared to have one of the best starting rotations in the American League, if not all of baseball. With Cabrera and Martinez, they had two of the best production men in the majors. With Rajai Davis, the team had the element of speed which it so sorely lacked in years past. Also, the usually reliable closer Joe Nathan was coming off a year in Texas where he saved 43 games, posted an ERA of 1.39, and a WHIP of 0.90. So, when looking at this team's potential, they should be one of the favorites to win the World Series. However, games aren't won based on potential. If the Tigers want to get back to where they were a month ago and have a shot at winning it all, veterans Joe Nathan and Justin Verlander will need to pick up their game, a reliable set-up man will need to come forward, and at least one younger player will need to mature quickly, so the team isn't quite as reliant on the big bats of Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. The two men have been great to this point in the season, but they can't do it by themselves, can't run very well, and if the guys around them don't start hitting with more consistency, they may receive more free passes as a result.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings/_/date/20140518
http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/stats/pitching/_/name/det/detroit-tigers
http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/stats/batting/_/name/det/detroit-tigers
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