Detroit Tigers week in review: week 14

Baseball is a crazy game. Guys like me watch the games and try to use the numbers to explain what is going on with this team. However sometimes the numbers cannot explain anything...Sometimes this game makes no sense at all. The Tigers had a up and down week but after a Friday and Saturday drumming foe the former first place Cleveland Indians followed by another bullpen miscue yesterday and we have a week in which the Tigers did get themselves back into first place, but for some reason it feels like this team is still underachieving. Maybe that is not fair, but that is how the cookie is crumbling right now.

Over the last 10 games the Tigers are 6-4. The good news here is with the 2 wins in Cleveland they have improved their road record to 22-23. Of course at home they are nearly unbeatable unless they are playing the Los Angeles Angels. At Comerica Park they are 26-16. There overall record is 48-39, an while being in first place is good they have the second worst record among the 6 teams currently in first place.

The numbers get even more funky. The Tigers have scored 445 runs second most in baseball this season. There team batting average is .282 best in baseball, and their on base and slugging percentage rank second and third respectively. Yet it feels like this team is underachieving. Welcome to the wacky 2013 season with a team this good and with six all stars already just isn't good enough...I guess maybe the bar is high for this team after all.

The Good:

• Max Scherzer- 13-0, and unreal record and Max is looking to get paid. Maybe not next year even though he will be due a big raise over the nearly 7 million he is being paid for this year. It might have been better for Max to have this kinda year next year, but dude is still gonna get paid. 
• Justin Verlander- JV bounced back with a 3 hit 7 inning shutout in Toronto this week It was a performance that saw JV return to his dominant form from the last two seasons. It could be a rallying cry for a team that again seems to be underachieving. 
• Torii Hunter- Torrii hit a big Home Run to get the Tigers back into the game yesterday in Cleveland and has had a little slump this season but overall has been very effective in the two hole. In fact the first real second hitter the Tigers have had since Placido Polanco left town. 

The Bad:

• Alex Avila- one one hand he handles the staff well, on the other hand he has been hitting better since a stint on the DL and some rehab starts in Toledo, but he is still only hitting .178 for the season and .227 over the last seven games. Doesn't seem like that is good enough production at this level. Think about what this lineup would look like with a guy hitting .275 or so in the bottom three. 
• Doug Fister- Bad might be too strong a word for him, but he is very inconsistent. He is now 6-5 with an era over 4...not what we really expected out of big Doug this year. 
• Misplaced loyalty by the front office and the fans- We already saw what bringing back a guy that doesn't ahve it anymore can do to a club and Jeremy Bonderman was DFA's from the freaking Seattle Mariners enough with this misplaced loyalty to guys who are not all that great. Go out and fond clear upgrades and make the team better already. 

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Detroit Sports History examiner

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