Detroit Tigers week in review: Week 12

It is hard to find things to complain about when your baseball team is in first place by 4 games. A team that

looks almost unbeatable (at least most nights) at home, and a team that has the last two American League MVP's as well as a guy who is 11-0 and making a strong case for the Cy Young award this season.

It is not a familiar role for Tigers fans to be in. It has been a long time since this team ran away with a divisional championship but this is still a roster with glaring needs and it will be up to General Manager Dave Dombrowski to make the right move that puts this team over the top. If he does not his legacy could be tarnished. He could wind up being the guy who made a few great moves spent a billion dollars on payroll to get close. We shall see on that one.

As always we look at the splits to see where this team may be lacking. Overall they are 42-32. Over the last 10 they are 6-4. At home they look almost unstoppable (again on most night) with a 26-13 record. On the road they are a pretty disappointing 16-19. The theme of the season is this is a team that doesn't play well against the better teams. However the 2013 Tigers record against opponents with a winning record is 24-17. that is not great but is pretty good. Where the team is not so good is in close games and extra inning affairs. In one run games they are just 8-11. In extra inning games they are 2-7. Those numbers seem to suggest the biggest flaw on this roster is the bullpen. We shall see how that plays out over the next month or so.

The Good:

• Max Scherzer- What more can be said about a guy who has started 11-0. In a year where Justin Verlander is struggling more than usual it has been Max that has performed like the ace of this staff. In a contract year one has to wonder if the team will be able to afford Max moving forward. Right now Max is making a very strong case to start the All Star Game, and a very real case for the Cy Young award.
• Austin Jackson- What a difference he makes at the top of the order. Since returning from the Disabled List Austin is hitting .457 with a home run and 5 RBI. He is the table setter for this offense and it runs a lot better with him hitting lead off. 
• Drew Smyly- The one bright spot of a bullpen that is a complete disaster. Drew is killing it. His ERA is 1.75 and his K/9 innings is 8.94. Drew has pitched 46.1 innings and given up just one home run and 9 earned runs while racking up 2 saves and 7 holds. 

The Bad:

• Justin Verlander- sure he is 8-5 but he has not been the dominating force we have seen over the last two years. After some struggles with control; yesterday his ERA has climbed to 3.90 second highest to Rick Porcello on the starting staff. It now seems like this is a mental issue and someone needs to get inside JV's head.
• Alex Avila- I know I know the kid is on the DL, but he went 0-3 in Toledo in his first rehab start and the bottom of the Tigers order needs him to hit better. It really is that simple. 
• Jose Valverde- This ridiculous experiment is finally at a end. How did no one see that he didn't have his split finger anymore? This was such a bad idea and it really speaks to flaws in the tigers scouting staff. 

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Detroit Tigers week in review: week 11

It is hard to complain about a first place baseball team. it is hard to look at the 2013 Detroit Tigers, who

have a 38-29 record, and say that the team has one if not two rather significant flaws. This team has one, and may have two but we can get back to that later. The Tigers are in first place by 4.5 games over the Cleveland Indians and look like they are good enough to run away with this division, however is a third straight divisional title the goal? I think not!

The Tigers have a good record, and they are 16-10 against the teams in their division. However, hen we look at the splits closer we start to see this team isn't 150 million dollars good. They are just 12-11 against teams with a winning record. While they are 7-3 over the last 10 they are still woefully below .500 on the road. 16-19 is not a good enough road record to carry this team to any kind of success in 2013. Remember the goal here is not to simply win the division. The goal for a team in win now mode, and spending the kind of money they are, is to win a World Series. This team, as presently constructed, does not look good enough to do just that. The plus side at 22-10 they are nearly unbeatable at home.

We could debate what the biggest issues is but with a 4-13 record the Tigers bullpen is amongst the worst in all of baseball and we have seen this pen give back far too many wins. If a move is gonna be made it seems that adding a closer and another late inning option are the two things the 2013 Tigers need most.

The Good:

• Torrii Hunter- Torii was in a pretty big slump chasing his 300th home run. He got that in Minnesota yesterday and maybe he can get back to where he was in May. Big congrats to a kid who hit his first home run with the Twins against the Tigers at old Tiger Stadium and his 300th for the Tigers at Target Field. What a great baseball story. 
• Drew Smyly- Drew has pitched the most innings out of the tigers pen this season, not a huge surprise since he is the long reliever but he has a 2-0 record with a 2.09 ERA. He also has 39 strike outs. He is the bright spot or a under performing unit. 
• Prince Fielder- When you hit behind a guy like Miguel Cabrera it is a little easy to get overlooked even if you are a giant of a man like Prince Fielder. He is hitting .292 with 54 RBI and 12 home runs and the biggest minus for him is he has hit into 8 double plays (second most on the team). 

The Bad:

• The bullpen- a 4-13 record is just not good enough. I do not want to single out Jose Valverde here, even though he should not be given any more chances to close out games for this team. The simple fact here is outside of Smyly and Joaguin Benoit this bullpen is terrible. 
• Alex Avila- I am almost sick of saying this but his .172 batting average is not major league worthy. He handles the staff fairly well but he needs to produce more at the plate. This is one of the reasons the offense is so streaky, the bottom of the order guys are not consistent enough. 

Stuff to watch:

• Anibal Sanchez- it looks like his shoulder injury is something to be concerned about. The Tigers skipped his start last week and then he only last 3 and a third the last time out. He may need sometime off and that means the Tigers will need to bring someone up from Toledo or try and get Smyly stretched out in the Minors to come in and make a start or two till Sanchez is right. Manager Jim Leyland is concerned and so am I. 

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Detroit Sports Media Examiner

Is Jose Vavlerde done?

Yesterday, June 12, 2013, Jose Valverde was within one strike of closing out a Detroit Tigers 

victory over the Kansas City Royals. Then he pitched up a meatball to Lorenzo Cain who parked it in the stands to tie the game. The Royals would go on to win the game in the bottom of the 10th and Valverde had blown another save and fellow reliever Phil Coke ate the loss. All on a day when Justin Verlander pitched seven innings of 3 hit shutout ball.

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Detroit Tigers week in review: Week nine

This as not the best week in the history of the Detroit Tigers, and it was probably he worst week of the 2013

season thus far. Once again the Tigers have shown that annoying habit of the offense going to sleep. It happened last fall at the worst time and whatever the problem is it really needs to be addressed. Is it the lack of a clubhouse leader? Quite possibly. Is it a flaw in the lineup? Maybe. Is tit the failure of Alex Avila at the plate? Is is due to the struggling Victor Martinez? There are no easy answers here, but when we start to look at the splits it gets to look a little more ugly than it really is.

The Tigers are 30-25,and they lead the American League Central by two full games over the Cleveland Indians. Over the last 10 games they are 4-6, and the included a 1-3 record versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and a 1-2 sting in Baltimore. At home they re a very impressive 17-9, but on the road they are just 13-16. Even more troubling they are just 14-15 against teams with a winning record. that is certainly a number that needs to improve. They are 10-7 against the teams in their division and that is also a number that needs to improve.

The Good:

• Omar Infante- I think Omar gets overlooked a lot, but he has really cemented a trouble spot for this team since being reacquired last summer. He is a solid defender and he is hitting .294 and has a .739 OPS. He has nine doubles and 18 RBI along with two steals. Better than that he has only 18 strike outs which means he is getting the most out of every at bat. 
• Miguel Cabrera- I mean this guy is freaking scary good. He is hitting .367, has 17 home runs, and 65 RBI. He is the best pure hitter since Tony Gywnn and Ken Griffey Jr. He is simply amazing and he only seems to get better. 
• Anibal Sanchez- His 5-5 record doesn't really reflect how good he has been. He has 71 innings pitched, 89 strike outs, a 2.79 ERA, and has pitched the only complete game by a Tigers starter so far this season. 

The Bad:

• Alex Avila- Alex just isn't getting it done at the plate. he is hitting just .169 and has 47 K's. To put that number in perspective that is the same number of K's as Prince Fielder absent all of the offensive production. He is struggling, and it is affecting the bottom of the order. 
• Victor Martinez- he is hitting just .230 and has 28 strike outs. We have seen flashes of the old Victor but they have been few and far between.The lineup could use a hot bat in the five hole. 
• Jose Valverde- We are not going to freak out over one blown save. Everyone blows a save or two during the season but his splits do not look all that great. I think the Tigers can get by with him as the closer and it no longer looks like the 9th inning is the issue for this team. In just 12.2 innings he has a 3.55 ERA, and has given up five earned runs along with 2 home runs. Not the stat line of a legit MLB closer. 

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Detroit Sports Media Examiner