Questions Answered for Opening Day

There were two main questions that were to be worked out as we moved to the final roster and the beginning of the season. Especially once we worked through how the team would function with both Fielder and Cabrera in the lineup. Both have been answered as the Red Sox come to Comerica tomorrow. 

1.) The Tigers 5th Starter

From the edges has emerged Drew Smyly. With Jacob Turner having a spotty spring, including an injury and Andy Oliver slowing down at the end of our time in Lakeland, Drew Smyly will be our guy... At least for the first quarter of the season. 

What to expect: With his solid performance in spring, Smyly will have numerous opportunities to cement his spot on the Tiger's rotation. However, expect for Oliver and Turner to emerge on the scene with any injuries or with inevitable poor performance by anyone out of the bullpen.

2.) The Second Extra Infielder

We knew that one of the three would not be on the roster. It was either going to be Brandon Inge, Ramon Santiago or Danny Worth. This decision was made easy through Inge's pulled groin. The question will now become whether or not Inge will be one the team or sent to Toledo once he returns. 

What to expect: Once Inge is better, he will begin at AAA and then earn his way back onto the team with good enough numbers heading into the summer. Whether or not he and his 6 million dollar salary will compete well enough to say is anyone's guess. 

Oliver On Pace to Take 5th Spot in Tiger's Rotation

And down the stretch they come...

After our last post, we noted that Andy Oliver had taken the early lead in the race for the 5th spot in the Detroit Tiger's starting rotation. After his last appearance on Monday, he has built on that lead. After a spotty third inning in his first appearance, Oliver shifted gears and pitched a near perfect stretch of four innings against the Mets on Monday. This outing has placed him in the lead, over Jacob Turner, who has been miserable this spring and Drew Smyly, who has pitched better than Turner, but not as well as Oliver. If Oliver can continue to hit his spots with his fastball and get his slider over the plate, it will be hard for anyone to catch him.

There are two pieces of good news behind all of this action between these three hurlers that form the core of depth in the Tiger's minor league pitching program. Firstly, if a starter gets injured this year, there will be plenty of options to replace him. Secondly, this core could also function as trade bait later this summer when the Tiger's look to upgrade at either 2B or middle relief. All in all good news for people of the D.

Why the Tigers Will Win Over 100 Games and Andy Oliver

Hank Greenberg in 1934

It isn't often that the Detroit Tigers win over 100 games in a season. It has only happened 5 times in their history. (1984, 1968, 1961, 1934, 1915) There is one outstanding reason why this may happen this year. It has less to do with the Detroit Tigers, and more to do with the rest of the AL Central. While the Tigers have put together an exceptional squad for 2012, let's remember that the rest of the AL Central is as exceptionally bad as the Tigers are good. We have already predicted that the chances are slim that any team in the central will break .500. With this in mind and 43 percent of the Tigers games coming against teams in the central (70 of the Tigers 162 games), the chances for winning over 100 games are high. If the Tigers play .685 baseball against the central, which is well within reach, the Tigers would only have to play .565 baseball against the rest of their schedule to make it to 100 wins.

48 wins and 22 losses Against the Central

52 wins and 40 losses Against the Rest of the American League

This blog will take all bets that the Tigers will win less that 100 games. Just email us with how much!

On another note... Andy Oliver today... Nasty.

96 mph cheddar

Andy Oliver topped out at 96 mph today and commanded his fastball that consistently topped 94 mph throughout two innings. He also had a tight slider and dominated Braves hitters in that time. If he can keep this type of work up through the rest of March, there is no way that any other pitcher could compete. Unfortunately, in his third inning of work he began to lose command and walked a couple of hitters. He was bailed out by an excellent diving stop and double play by Brennan Boesch. In short, Andy Oliver has taken the early lead in the competition for the Tigers fifth spot in the starting rotation. His spot will solidify if he can show over the next couple of weeks that he can control his fastball.