Detroit Tigers pitching

August 5 2014

Unlikely Heroes Propel The Detroit Tigers To 1st Place

Dan Flaherty Uncategorized Detroit Tigers, Detroit Tigers lineup, Detroit Tigers pitching, Detroit Tigers playoff chances, MLB coverage, Rick Porcello Tigers

On the surface, this seems like a year where the Detroit Tigers haven’t seen things go their way. Justin Verlander is having a bad year—not just bad for him, but bad, period. Max Scherzer is pitching decently, but isn’t the Cy Young Award pitcher he was a year ago. Miguel Cabrera is swinging a good bat, but actually looks human after two straight surreal MVP years and a Triple Crown in 2012.

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On top of all this, the Tigers are playing for a rookie manager in Brad Ausmus, with respected veteran Jim Leyland having retired after 2013. But it hasn’t slowed Detroit down.

Coming into Tuesday night, they’re 61-48, have a reasonably comfortable 4 ½ game cushion in the AL Central, and were one of the big winners at the trade deadline when they acquired Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price. So how has Detroit done it?

The success of 2014 begins and ends with offense. The Tigers are fourth in the American League in runs scored, while the staff ERA ranks 10^th. But even that doesn’t tell the whole story—Comerica Park is a pure pitchers’ park, one of only two in the American League that can qualify as such (Oakland being the other). Which in practice means the Detroit offense is even better, and the pitching even worse.

Cabrera overcame a slow start and has a healthy .371 on-base percentage/.528 slugging percentage. Victor Martinez is having an even better year, at .383/.569. But the big surprise comes in left field.

J.D. Martinez has numbers of .360/.595 and has come out of nowhere to take a position that had been an offensive liability in recent years and made it a major strength. Another positive surprise has been Rajai Davis, with his .343/.432 stat line in center that gave the club the confidence to trade Austin Jackson to the Seattle Mariners. And shortstop Eugenio Suarez has at least been competent with the bat, with a .329 OBP, after taking over for incumbent Jose Iglesias who was lost for the season in spring training.

Detroit’s lineup has also benefitted from the offseason move to trade Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers in exchange for second baseman Ian Kinsler. Fielder ended up with neck problems, started poorly and then hit the DL for the balance of the year. Kinsler’s .323/438 numbers aren’t earth-shattering, but are better than whomever the organization would have had to replace Fielder with. And come October, Fielder’s poor postseason performances won’t be missed.

The Kinsler deal also enabled the defense to fall into place. Cabrera returned to his natural position at first base, where his soft hands enable him to excel and his lack of range isn’t as problematic as it was at third base. I have to think playing first is easier on the groin problems that he developed toward the end of last season.

It’s all added up to a lineup that leads the American League in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, batting average and doubles. They’re only eighth in home runs, which likely explains why all that only translates into fourth in runs scored. But in this park, that’s still plenty.

If Martinez, Davis and Suarez were the pleasant surprises in the everyday lineup, then the pitching rotation was saved by an unlikely hero in Rick Porcello. The righthander has won 13 games and has a 3.18 ERA, the best on the staff prior to Price’s arrival. Anibal Sanchez, one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball is 8-5 with a 3.37 ERA.

The bullpen has the same kind of problems that bedeviled them all of last year and ultimately cost them Games 2 & 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox. But the Tigers are looking to fix them. They added Joakim Soria from Texas at the trade deadline. Between Soria and Joe Nathan, hopefully Ausmus can find a hot hand to handle the ninth. Joba Chamberlain and Al Albuquerque have pitched well in middle relief and setup.

That’s how Detroit kept themselves not only afloat, but thriving for four months of this season. The offense stepped up and an unlikely pitching hero was found. Now Price makes his first start as a Tiger tonight in Yankee Stadium. Perhaps Verlander can find his form. The role players have done their job, and the time for the stars to start shining is coming soon.

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April 24 2012

AL Central Report: Detroit Hasn’t Pulled Away Yet

Dan Flaherty Uncategorized AL Central race, Chicago White Sox lineup, Cleveland Indians lineup, Detroit Tigers pitching, Justin morneau Joe Mauer, Kansas City Royals slump

If the American League Central is going to turn into a walk for the Detroit Tigers it won’t happen right away. Three teams are bunched near the top of this division, as TheSportsNotebook continues its MLB division reports with a look at the AL Central…

Detroit (10-6): The Tigers are having some depth problems in their starting rotation. Justin Verlander has picked up where he left off from his Cy Young and MVP season a year ago, with a 1.72 ERA in four starts, and young Drew Smyly has thrilled the Motor City with a 1.13 ERA in three times to the post. But Doug Fister has made an early trip to the disabled list, while Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer have had disastrous starts. The positive for Jim Leyland is that the bullpen depth is coming together with Duane Below and Octavio Dotel pitching well, and Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera are both off to good starts in the lineup. With Fielder having gotten the big contract, and Cabrera shifting to third base, this at least spares them answering early questions over whether those issues are causing an early slump. And Austin Jackson is off to a good start. After swinging the bat poorly for a year and a half, it was reasonable to conclude that his strong first half of 2010 was fool’s gold. Now he’s back to getting on base and setting the table for Fielder and Cabrera.

Chi Sox (10-6): Philip Humber captured the attention of the nation with a perfect game in Seattle on Saturday, but that shouldn’t obscure that the White Sox are second in the American League in team ERA, meaning they’re doing some good mound work on a consistent basis. A big problem is that the good work isn’t coming from John Danks or Gavin Floyd. Each has to pitch well for the team to be successful and each was off a bit last year. It’s the bullpen trio of Matt Thornton, Addison Reed and Nate Jones that’s been dominant—20+ IP and not an earned run given up yet. And the offense has everyone hitting on all cylinders, including Adam Dunn. After his horrid showing in 2011 he’s started his bid for Comeback Player of the Year with four early home runs and a .366 on-base percentage. Alex Rios, another veteran with question marks surrounding him, is hitting for both average and power in the early going.

Cleveland (8-6): The Tribe is hitting the ball early and showing some excellent discipline at the plate. Travis Hafner leads the majors with a .509 OBP, and along with Shelley Duncan and Carlos Santana, all three have draw 10-plus walks. Throw in a hot start by third baseman Jack Hannahan and you have an offense that’s a surprising 6^th in the AL in runs scored. The problem is going to be pitching—Justin Masterson is off to a lousy start, with a 6.65 ERA in four outings and Ubaldo Jiminez’s 4.00 ERA fits the profile of mediocrity that TheSportsNotebook believes he really is. Manny Acta has a good bullpen, but that does no good if you can’t hand over leads.

Minnesota (5-12): Later this week, Notebook contributor Isaac Huss, a Twin Cities resident, is going to have a piece on the rough state of affairs Minnesota sports fans are living through right now. I had hoped he might be able to have a positive spin on the Twins, but the early record isn’t there, thanks primarily to atrocious starting pitching, with Francisco Liriano and his 11.02 ERA the prime culprit. But there is good news amidst this—Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau look like their old selves swinging the bat again and outfielder Josh Willingham has reacted well to his liberation from Oakland and is scorching the ball to the tune of five home runs and a .425/.623 OBP/Slugging line. If Denard Span can keep his own nice start (.370 OBP) rolling the Twins will be able to score runs. Ultimately, I’m not backing down on my view that taking this team go Over their Las Vegas win total of 73.5 was the best futures bet of spring training.

Kansas City (3-13): The Royals have not only lost ten straight games, they coughed them all up at home, so the good people of Kaycee have yet to see a win. Every hitter not named Billy Butler was off to a slow start, although Eric Hosmer heated up over the weekend, while Alex Gordon is showing signs of life, as is third baseman Mike Moustakas. But the bullpen, something that should be a team strength even without closer Joakim Soria, has not been up to snuff and the starting pitchers need to work deeper into games.