Last year was a complete disappointment for the Tigers, and headed into that season with a world of confidence as they brought in Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins. Things went south right off the bat as they lost their first two series’ of the year, and were swept by the emerging Kansas City Royals in the first home series of the year at Comerica Park. Remember, this Tigers team is just two years removed from when they made the World Series in 2006, with pretty much the same team intact.
The strong point for this year’s Tigers team is offense. If they for some reason suck this time around, things will dramatically change in Tigerland within the year.
Starting with the infield, at first base is Miguel Cabrera. He proved he was the real deal with the Tigers in a big baseball market, and not just some young rich kid living it up on the beaches of Miami and played baseball for the fame. His 37 homeruns and 127 RBI justified that and instantly became a fan favorite and a leader of the team. His bat is much more important now, and will be expected to match last year’s numbers. Especially now that his monster seven year deal worth over 130 million dollars will begin.
At second base is Placido Polanco who can get the job done defensively. With the bat he is one of the best players you could have starting in the bottom half of the lineup. But, his offensive production could take a dip this year.
At shortstop is Adam Everett who signed in the off-season to shore up on defense, and won’t be relied for too much offense.
The third basemen will once again be Brandon Inge. It just seems Tiger fans have not yet seen all of what Inge could offer. Defensively he is good, but it just seems he has not reached all of his potential. In 2006 he hit 27 homeruns and that’s the Inge everyone expected, but since then he has only hit 35 homeruns. If Inge can breakout once again like he did in ’06, the Tigers will have a potent offense.
In the outfield, any fan would salivate at the prospect of just having one or two of the stars the Tigers employ in Curtis Granderson, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen.
Granderson is a stud in the leadoff position and playing at Comerica Park and its deep outfield, it is triple hitting city. And playing centre field there is no picnic either, but Granderson makes it look too easy. He should once again hit twenty homeruns this year, which would make it three straight years, and his bat just adds another dynamic to the lineup. His stolen bases total should rise, because he has too much speed not to run.
Patrolling right field will be Magglio Ordonez, and his numbers may also take a dip this season due to age. For so many years Ordonez has been very consistent, and it is hard to post 20 homerun and 100 plus RBI season’s year after year. He can be counted on to get at least twenty homeruns and 95 RBI.
Lastly, but not the least is Carlos Guillen in left field. His bat is another that is important to the Tigers lineup if they wish to have the most dangerous starting lineup in all of baseball. He won’t hit twenty homeruns, but he will get on base consistently.
The only weak spots in the lineup are the catcher’s position, and the DH position. Offense won’t be produced from the catcher’s position, and Gary Sheffield just won’t admit he used steroids, and he can’t produce anymore at this stage of his career.
Pitching was a problem for the Tigers last year, and their young ace Justin Verlander went 11-17 with a high ERA of 4.84. It is up to Verlander to correct this for the new season because it will be up to him to set the tempo for the rest of the pitching staff.
Jeremy Bonderman will probably go second in the rotation and injuries affected his playing time last year. Even when healthy, Bonderman has struggled at times and needs to get his game in order for the Tigers to compete in the division, because a second strong arm in the rotation is always a key.
Nate Robertson and Zach Miner are the other two starters and both pitchers struggled through the year with very lofty ERA’s. Robertson isn’t very reliable in putting up a winning season, and the same can be said for Miner.
The addition of Edwin Jackson is huge for the Tiger’s, but are taking another chance on a young pitcher. Just look at what happened to Dontrelle Willis.
The biggest bust of the year award goes to, Dontrelle Willis. What a disaster of a season. Willis was so bad that he even ended up in AA ball with his 0-2 record in seven games started, and an ERA of 9.38. He just needs to get his head on straight, and take baby steps from here on in to find his game and pitch at a major league level.
Bullpen wise, the Tigers lost Todd Jones to retirement, and weren’t that reliable last season. Joel Zumaya is a flame thrower, but injuries have hurt this guy. Fernando Rodney looks to be the closer, but wasn’t very good last year. The Tigers bullpen could use a few more arms.
Overall, this Tigers squad has an excellent batting order, and should compete for the division title. This will all come down to their pitching staff and how far they can take the team. The Tigers have the ability to outslug teams and win, but their batting order showed last year they were very up and down in stretches of the season.
POSITIVE --> BATTING ORDER LED BY MIGUEL CABRERA.
NEGATIVE --> PITCHING STAFF NEEDS TO GET BACK ON TRACK AND BULLPEN.
X-FACTOR --> JUSTIN VERLANDER WILL LEAD THE PITCHING STAFF AND HAS TO POST AT LEAST 18 WINS AND SET THE TEMPO FOR THE ROTATION.
SLEEPER PICK --> EDWIN JACKSON HAD 14 WINS LAST YEAR FOR TAMPA BAY, AND LOOKS TO BE ON THE UPSIDE IN HIS CAREER.
PREDICTION --> WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AS DIVISION WINNERS AND WILL WIN 90-92 GAMES.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment