Detroit Tigers week in review: Week 15

It was a very up and down week for the Detroit Tigers. The fan base got all worked up when they dropped a series to the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park mid week, but the team rebounded nicely with a series win over the Texas Rangers over the weekend. Justin Verlander stepped up yesterday and id not allow his team to lose a series and put up another impressive performance. He went seven innings and only gave up one hit as the Tigers cruised to 5-0 victory. Still thought the team's struggles have left them just 1.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians and it doesn't look like Terry Francona is gonna let this team wilt like Indians team of the past. The tigers have made this more of a race that nit really should be, but hey that is baseball.

There are some rumors that the Tigers the interest in Tim Lincecum. It makes a lot of sense if they were going to sue him out of the bullpen, but the question becomes who would they be willing to give up for him? The Tigers do not have a lot of depth in their organization currently and the pieces they have they need on the big club to make a solid push towards the playoffs. I could see them trading away Rick Porcello or maybe even Drew Smyly for Lincecum but that seems like a steep price at this point.

For now the season is more than half over, but we have reach the symbolic half way point the Major League All Star game.  The next two weeks are going to be very interesting indeed.

The Good:

• Miguel Cabrera- he is leading the team in every major offensive category. He is a beast, and somehow out performing last year when he was the AL MVP and Triple Crown winner. Without a doubt he has not only earned his salary but maybe even outperformed his enormous contract. 
• Victor Martinez- A big part of why the offense has stayed hot is Victor in the five hole. He has raised his average to .258 with 8 home runs and 50 RBI. Think about that he has 50 RBI hitting after Cabrera and Prince Fielder. It looks like he has returned to form and if he stays hot the is one less thing for the Tigers and their fans to worry about. 
• Joaquin Benoit- those of you who think the Tigers need a closer should really look at the numbers. Benoit has 8 saves and 9 holds and a 1.64 ERA. Pair that with a K/9 of 11.74 and realize he is the closer what the bullpen needs is a solid 7th and/or 8th inning guy 

The Bad:

• Phil Coke- Not only can't Coke get outs, but at times it doesn't even look like he can throw strikes. He has struggled all year against right handed batters, but lately he is struggling against everyone. He has given up 29 hits in 29.1 inning pitched and his ERA is around 6.00, simply not good enough
• Alex Avila- At this point I would rather see Bryan Pena and/or Bryan Holaday each day then Avila. He is hitting just .177 and is a big reason why the bottom of the order struggles so much. 
• Ramon Santiago/Hernan Perez- Losing Omar Infante to the DL has really hurt the production at second. I like both Santiago and Perez defensively but offensively neither one is getting it done. Hopefully Omar comes back after the break and gets right back into the swing of things. 

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Detroit Sports History Examiner