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Editorial: This isn’t the year for the Tigers

Nick Conklin,
Grand Central Magazine

With the Tigers lurching their way up the American League Central Division, combine a struggling offense, injuries, and average pitching, and their recent strides may not be enough to get them to the top. Throw in the All-Star break and their recent successes might be quelled.

As it is right now Detroit (46-44) sits in 3^rd place in the division, behind Minnesota (50-41) in 2^nd and the Chicago White Sox (53-37) in 1st. With the White Sox winning eight of their last 10 games, the Tigers definitely have ground to make up.

The first nail in the deflating tire that is now the Tigers season is their record away from Comerica Park. With a 19-27 record on the road, visiting parks have not been kind to them. And getting into the playoffs is going to take more then just winning at home.

Granted the rest of the division has struggled, with no team having a winning record on the road. But with upcoming road stints in Baltimore, Kansas City, then Cleveland to round out July, wins need to be picked up.

Despite the poor road performances, they do sport a solid 27-7 record at home. With two big home series coming up following the All-Star break against the Twins and the White Sox, they will have to perform if they want to move up in the standings.

The air is leaking out of another area and that is in the pitching staff.

With aces like Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson and Kenny “Dirty thumb” Rogers’ ERAs reaching into the high fours and fives, their domination from last season has all but slipped away.

All three boast six wins this season. Compared that to last year when Verlander won 18 games, Robertson nine and Jeremy Bonderman won 11. The lone bright spots are from new comer Armando Galarraga who boasts a 7-2 record and a 3.27 ERA. Todd Jones has also pitched well, collecting 16 saves on 17 opportunities.

But when it comes down to it, they give up too many walks and too many runs, plus their supporting staff has struggled.

The final and deciding factor that may keep the Tigers from the playoffs is injuries.

High priced pitcher Dontrelle Willis is out due to tendentious of the knee. The loss of Willis is not a death sentence for the team because to his problems with accuracy and control caused him to give up 21 walks in just over 11 innings.

Key losses due to injury have been Magglio Ordonez, who was reactivated and will rejoin the team on July 17; and Brandon Inge, on the 15-day disabled list. This will affect the team due to the quality hitting of Magglio and the defensive range of Inge.

With all of these factors going against them, does it seem possible that they will be able to right the ship and go on consistent winning streaks?

No. There may be a half of a schedule left to play, but there seems at this point to be too many obstacles in Detroit’s way in order to reach the playoffs. The three main issues of pitching, quality hitting and inconsistency in winning may be too much for them to overcome.