As always we look at he splits to see how this team is doing. The Tigers are 77-54 overall and are up 5.5 games over the Cleveland Indians. They are 6-4 over their last 10 including the loss last night at home to Oakland. The A's have given this team fits as the Tigers have just a 2-2 record against them this year. At home the Tigers are still an impressive 41-24, and have to be on the hunt for home field advantage for the post season. On the road they are still a very good 36-30 but this is a different team when they play at Comerica Park, and based on what we saw last year having home field advantage throughout has to be the prize they are after.
We are getting to the point of September call ups and one has to wonder who will be brought up. It seems a virtual certainty that Nick Castellanos will make an appearance in Detroit and hopefully for the post season as well. Maybe he an even have an impact like Avisail Garcia did last year.
The Good:
- Miguel Cabrera- Much like Ken Griffey Jr was, Miguel is able to put up big numbers and keep himself out of the PED argument. This cat is scary good, and he is the run away AL MVP right now today. He is having a way better season than he did a year ago when he won the MVP and the Triple Crown. He may accomplish that feat again but unlike last year no one can argue that this guy is the most valuable. He is hitting .359, with 43 home runs and 130 RBI.
- The Starting Rotation- All five pitches have double digit wins, all five have at least 108 strike outs, and the highest ERA of the starting five is Rick Porcello's 4.49. All in a year where we could say Ace Justin Verlander has struggled.
- Victor Martinez- Victor is now hitting .289 and he is even getting ready to play some catcher. Mostly in the NL parks I wold guess but with the Tigers catchers a little banged up having Victor to take a game here and there is nothing but a positive. So far Victor has caught two games for the tigers and getting him use to the pitching staff is necessary should he be pressed into post season duty as a catcher.
The Bad:
- Alex Avila- I kind of hate to rag on a kid who is on the 7 day concussion DL but the simple fact here is still hitting under .200 despite the recent hot streak before his injury. that truly shows how bad he was in the first half and I don't see any improvement in this kid. He is what he is a guy who can handle the staff pretty well, but comes up short in offensive production. When the tigers decide they need to upgrade their lineup this is one of the positions where they will have to look at very hard.
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