Detroit Tigers First Half Report Card

Catcher: B

If we were only giving a grade to Alex Avila, the grade would be lower. However, Gerald Laird has turned a C+ into a B. An all-star last year, Avila has been disappointing. Especially at the dish, hitting only .242 with 5 HR and 23 RBI. Laird, in only 98 AB is hitting .306 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. 

Third Base: A

We all knew that Miguel could hit. Who wants to argue that there is a better hitter in the game? With another off year, the crown has been passed from Pujols to Cabrera. That which gives Miguel an ! here is not his bat but his glove. He has been solid all year long, exceeding the defenisve expectations of everybody.

Shortstop: C

Peralta has been a disappointment, but we might argue that he is only a disappointment in light of the unusual year that he had last year. When compared to the rest of his career, Peralta is actually on par with how he typically performs. Let's lower the bar on our shortstop and be thankful for his exceptional year in 2011 and that we no longer have to put up with Adam Everett's bat.

Second Base: F

With the failed Raburn experiment and Santiago destined to remain a utility player we need help! Jose Altuve is our guy and we have calls in to Dave D. to make it happen. We'll see if a trade can help the consistent black in our lineup. (Maybe sweet Lou will consider coming out of retirement!)

First Base: A-

Let's give Prince some credit for his rather flawless transition to the American League. This is no small deal. See the transition of Pujols to remember just how hard it is to get accustomed to a whole new set of pitchers. While he is still poor defensively, his bat speaks for itself and his presence is as large as his new contract. 

Left Field: B-

Who would have thought that we would say that we would miss Andy Dirks. He over performed in the first quarter, .328 BA 4 HR 16 RBI, filling the hole of our consistent carousel of left fielders since G Money held down the spot in 2006. Can anyone say Justin Upton?

Center Field: A

Receiving the only other A in our lineup is Miguel Cabrera. This is how good Austin Jackson has been. Exceeding all expectations at the plate in becoming a true lead-off man, while maintaining perfection in center field, Austin may get his name in the MVP conversation is he continues his good work. 

Right Field: D+

We were all hoping that this was going to be the year for Brennan Boesch to solidify himself as our everyday right fielder and perennial all-star. This hasn't been the case. For the Tigers to make a run to the World Series, this will need to become the case. The potential in Boesch's bat far exceeds that of Don Kelly or Raburn. 

Starting Pitching: C+

The good news is that we have taken a step in a better direction than where we started. The bad news is that we started with some really bad steps. Outside of Verlander, we have had little consistency, but hope that that last month of pitching is better representitive of the direction we are moving into the dog days, rather than the first month. 

Relief Pitching: B

This grade would be an A-, except for the performance of Jose Valverde. Let's remember how good he was last year and how high the bar is set. However, let's also remember that if Valverde had not blown three saves that we would be a half game out with a record of 47 and 39.

The Surprising First Half MVP In Detroit

The question of who the first half MVP is for the Detroit Tigers is not an easy one. The obvious characters in the plot lie upon the likes of our three All Stars.

Justin Verlander: His streak of pitching at least 6 innings in games that he has started is stunning. (If he stays on pace, he will pass Bob Gibson late this fall or early spring of next year at 78 straight.)

Prince Fielder: His hot bat led us to only 3.5 games out at the break and his transition to American League pitching has been flawless. (Not something to take for granted.)

Miguel Cabrera: Does anyone want to argue for a better hitter in the universe? (Is this the year that he gets his MVP?)

All of these players are certainly worthy of the title of MVP within the organization for the first half of the season. However, we thought that we would give the honors to a unexpected player for his unlikely contribution to this year's squad.

Austin Jackson: Even with that stint on the DL, Austin's numbers are placing him in the conversation for MVP not just of the Tigers, but for the whole American League.

Look at the comparison of numbers from last year to this year! Who would have imagined such progress in our young and future all-star?

Are you kidding me? Who would have even thought  that he would cut down on his strikeouts and add to his OPS in such copious fashion? And essentially double his HR and RBI??? This guy has gone out of his mind, especially when you consider that he is only at 253 AB. 

Some are mining for comparisons to Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We agree. Give Austin two more years and he could be a threat to comparisons to the Bucs up and coming centerfielder. 

We'll see if he holds for the second half, and if he does, look for him to have a serious impact in October. 

Defensive Soft Spots Revealed in Detroit

We knew that the defense was going to be down. Picking up Prince Fielder didn't exactly happen for his glove. Moving Miguel Cabrera to third base wasn't for his quick feet. Snagging Delmon Young wasn't for his range. Giving Boesch more and more AB's isn't so he can use his deep intuition in right.

Let's be honest... The Tigers snuck by for the first 36 games as mediocre defenders. Committing 21 errors through Tuesday would have kept them in the top ten best in baseball. However, we learned against Minnesota that they are not mediocre defenders. In fact, we learned that they are poor defenders and that errors are costly. The four errors on Wednesday led to four unearned runs and probably cost us the game as we lost by four. The two errors on Thursday led to one unearned run and probably cost us the game as we lost by one. (Not to mention that Prince Fielder's error has embarrassing for everybody. No wonder why he never gets hurt.)

Overall... Again... We didn't put this lineup together to be great at defense. We put this lineup together to score a boat load of runs. And this is the problem. 

So what that the Tigers are 21st in fielding percentage at .981? This is expected. What is unexpected is that the Tigers are 11th or 12th in just about every major hitting category.

11th

AVE (.256)

H (329)

R (167)

12th

OPS (.719)

HR (37)

By the way, Cleveland is thus far better than the Tigers in just about every major offensive category. Here is what their lineup has looked like the last three days.

The realty that this lineup is producing better that Detroit's is more embarrassing than Prince Fielder's defense. The irony is that without Jackson or Dirks, these numbers would be even more frightening. Hopefully they can keep it up while the rest of the team begins to pick it up as many have been putting in extra time at BP.

I was earlier arguing that when Victor Martinez returns, the Tigers lineup could be the best in history. I am now beginning to question if this is true.

Can I Be Frustrated Yet?

I live with a football coache's mindset. I get amped up. I overreact. I get fired up when things don't go as planned and more so, when people underperform. I have learned, and I believe it to be true, that this is a great attitude to have for sports such as football. Football has such a short season and every game has undeniable importance. Therefore, a fiery attitude may be the difference in winning one of the sixteen games during the season or not.

In contrast, this type of attitude for a baseball fan leads to chronic disappointment and even some anger. Therefore, at the advice of a best friend, I have been trying to adjust my mindset when the Tiger's season starts. I have even encouraged other to look past the Tiger's 16-17 start, their multiple blown save chances, their lack of timely hitting, and ultimately their bad baseball play. I tell them that this is a long season...every team loses games...and they play in the worst division in baseball and they will be fine when it comes to the post-season. I really believe this is true, but when is it okay to get frustrated?

This team was supposed to be solid. This team was hailed as a Fall Classic contender. The performance thus far raises serious questions about the team even making the playoffs (at this pace)!

This is a pep-talk, more-or-less to myself, but maybe other Tiger's fans will appreciate it as well.

3 goods:

1. Starting pitching....is good. This area of the team is pretty much as expected except for a few sporadic starts by Porcello and Scherzer. Verlander has battled in a few games, but still looks like himself. Fister is now back on the bump and looks great when he gets dialed in. Smyly (the 5th starter as predicted by this blod before the season) has been astounding - no more than 2 ER in any start this season! Porcello can be great and Scherzer is Scherzer...this staff, when given some (even minimal run support) will win games!

2. Austin Jackson...is hitting (8th in AL AVG!), getting on base (11th in AL OBP), and scoring (5th in AL Runs). This is getting done with unexpected, below expected hitting stats from the Tiger's 2-3-4 hitters! If he keeps this up and the Tiger's middle-of-the-order bats wake-up, AJAX will have a great season and it will translate to the Tigers winning games, and hopefully a lot of them.

3. The Tigers play in the AL Central. I don't need to expound upon this...this gives them room to play poorly early on and be in a fine spot to overtake the lead in the division...of this we can all be confident. 

3 bads:

1. No need to repeat; but I would just forward you to the previous post on this blog...we have to win the games we are leading after the 7th inning. Whatever changes the bullpen needs to make to be more lock-down and the offense beginning to learn how to add some runs during the late innings for comfort could not come soon enough. 

2. "The Prince and the Popper" / "Miggy and Biggy" / "The Bats of the Cats" - yadayadayada! You get the point. Miguel and Prince are not Miguel and Prince. Both have had some very long hitless games streaks. Both have been striking out a lot. And both are not producing like we all thought! The nice thing is that it is early, and it is much better they are cold now than in October...let's just hope they warm up  even a little bit.

3. 2B!!!! Glad that Brandon Inge is gone...but seriously - our 3 options at second base are abysmal at best...the Tiger's need a second-baseman who can consistently, simply get on base!! Let's hope "D-squared" can put together a nice little trade for a good defense and solid offensive 2B, because it is very futile for the Tiger's to continue to hope that either Santiago, Raburn, or Worth will suddenly turn into good players at the dish. They did that with B-Inge for the better part of ten seasons and it never worked - it won't with these guys either!

Let's end this by saying....it is still only May 13th. They play in the AL Central...and they have the majority of the pieces that they need to be a productive winning team and they probably will. This little rant just allows those of us with a football mindset to vent a little so we can still maintain an even-keel!

Go Tigers!!!

Tigers Move Down in Power Rankings

They had a swagger coming into Friday, didn't they? Well that swagger has been laid to rest as the Tigers go to Seattle on Tuesday after losing three out of four to the defending ALCS winners from Texas. With the poor performance, the Tigers have moved down to number 2 in ESPN's power rankings.

Overall, this weekend proves that there is still work to do. For any of us that were ready to deem the Tigers the world series champions, may this series from this weekend cause us to pause and take note.

Rick Porcello, who we thought would be a mainstay in the starting rotation this year, is now a bad start or two away from losing that title due to his embarrassing, batting practice-like performance on Saturday, giving up 8 runs in an inning's work.

Our offense goes as Austin Jackson goes. He had been red hot going into the weekend, but came back down to reality. On Thursday he was on base 0 times and we scored three runs. On Saturday he was on base 1 time in the first game and 1 time in the second game. The Tigers scored a total of 7 runs.  On Sunday he was on base 1 time and we scored 2 runs. He had a total of 1 run scored and his batting average is down to .274. More importantly his OBP is down to .366. Let's see if he can keep his levels in this space. Lower would be bad. Higher would be a gift.

On the flip side... This could be the best thing that could have happened to us. A gentle reminder that there is still work to do to get to the top. The Rangers are now officially the best team in the American League and the Tigers will once again need to go the extra mile to regain that position. Maybe losing three out of four will be the fuel to get them there.

What We Learned This Weekend

There are three observations that we would like to point out after enjoying a great opening weekend of baseball in Detroit.

1.) Our lineup is intimidating. (But not necessarily because of the 650 lbs of swat in the middle.)

Not necessarily because Prince Fielder now finds himself at the center of our lineup, or because it seems that Rod and Mario have already destined Miguel Cabrera as the AL MVP, but because Austin Jackson is getting on base. If he can improve his OBP of .317 last year to a mildly respectable .367, we can estimate an increase of 15 more runs scored this year by the Tigers offense. He is off to a great start and all signs point toward this reality.

2.) Our pitching is not impenetrable. (Even though it might have been this spring.)

Watching Jose Valverde blow the save on Thursday was new territory that hasn't been explored in a year a half. Watching Max Shetzer's inability to hold a lead was more familiar, but still unfamiliar. With Fister on the DL and a huge question mark in Smyly, we are exposed. We at Detroit Tiger's Storyline will look forward to watching who emerges from the edges and covers the holes that are sprouting in different locations within our pitching staff.

3.)  The Norms of the AL Central may be changing. (Heroes from Florida.)

After having to work through another winter filled with the media in bed with the AL Central, the tides may be changing. Granted, the season is long and we are just beginning, but the early numbers speak for themselves.

While there is no reason to yet be excited about the Orioles, who played a AAA team in the Twins this weekend, there should be excitement in Tampa. The Rays have proven themselves as a consistent contender, even in the midst of an unusual amount of transition over the past four years, through building a strong pitching staff and gathering around the personality of Joe Madden. And... Who doesn't love watching them pound the Yankees over a three game series? We at this blog are sincerely hoping that the Yankee empire is falling right before our eyes and that the unlikely heroes in Florida come to the rescue to save us from their check books.

Oh and by the way... The Red Sox could also be bad this year. But we're sure that you saw that.

Prince Fielder in Detroit Version 2.0

We bought Prince Fielder today and it is kind of like smoking, or eating too much pizza. In the short term it can feel so right, but in the long run, it can lead to problems. But let's not focus on the problems of the future today. (We'll save that for a future conversation.) Let's, for right now, focus on what this means for the 2012 Detroit Tigers.

Los Buenos

We'll see if he can top his dad's 1990 season.

1.) Boy can hit. In 7 seasons, these have been his numbers.

4120 PA | 230 HR | 656 RBI | 566 BB | .282 BA | .390 OBP | .929 OPS

So not only can he hit. He can hit better than just about any player on the planet, with the exception of one or two. (Like the guy hitting in front of him in the Tiger's lineup.)

2.) He can protect Miguel Cabrera in the lineup. We all know that Victor was incredible in this spot last year. This important spot in the lineup looked all but lost when Victor tore his ACL, yet the promise of protecting Miguel is back in place.

3.) The Tigers will add at least an extra 30 runs scored this year, putting them at an estimated 817 runs total scored in 2012

4.) Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch will see an increase in productivity as the 1 and 2 hitters in the lineup. (Fantasy baseball golden 8th round picks!)

5.) Brandon Inge can find his rightful spot off the hot corner in Detroit. 

6.) We have secured one of the best hitters in the game for the past six years for a total of nine years.

7.) We will win the Central and have a shot at making a run in the world series.

8.) The door is open to trade 3B hot prospect Nick Castellanos for better middle relief pitching.

Keep the glove down.

Los Malos

1.) Miguel at third base. There is already enough written online... Google it or see Cockcroft's article here for details.

2.) We spent 214 million dollars on a man that hasn't won a world series, or a pennant for that matter, can't keep himself in shape, and has shown inconsistencies in his brief time in MLB.

3.) The real problem/gift emerges in 2013 when Victor returns and Miguel has to play at 3B every day. This could get real ugly. Jason Beck put it well.

"Cabrera finished 20th out of 22 qualifying Major League third basemen in 2007 with a .941 fielding percentage; his 2.51 Range Factor ranked 14th. He was 13th out of 20 in fielding percentage in 2006, and 16th in range."

4.) By the way, Prince is also one of the worst fielding 1B in MLB. This makes our infield the slowest and heaviest infield in the history of MLB. Our total weight in the infield (1B, 2B, 3B, SS), depending on who plays second base, could exceed 1,100 pounds!

5.) Don't expect the same production out of Prince playing at Comerica. It is a pitchers park.

6.) The Tigers will give up an extra 20 runs this year, putting them at 731 runs given up. 

Game Fixes

1.) When Porcello or Fister pitch, we play Don Kelley or that guy named Inge at 3B as these pitchers make a living on getting ground ball outs. Place either Miguel or Prince at 1B and allow the other to DH.

2.) Don't be ashamed to give Prince or Miguel a day off and allow them to pinch hit for Inge/Kelley in the mid-late innings.

3.) Force either Miguel or Prince to accept a role as a permanent DH. if Miguel is too ugly at 3B.

4.) Keep Prince away for the Reuben Sandwiches at Zingerman's Deli.