By: Kyle BauerLet me preface this by saying, remember its still early. This is only the worst concievable way the Tigers could start the season though.First problem: The pitching staff is fatigued too early. With this horrible bullpen it is of the most importance that on most nights the starters can at least get through the 6th. It’s a tall order but that’s the position this team is currently in. Durability something I thought might be a problem with everyone except Verlander and especially with Rogers. Think about this too, Robertson put on the DL with arm fatigue, Willis with his bicep and documented pitch count/fatigue problems, and Bonderman with his elbow which I called fake on but well chances are I was wrong and he really was hurt. Leyland, DD and Hernandez might have felt taking it easy on them in spring training would be the answer to that but it might be working in the opposite direction. There’s a possibility that our pitchers are simply not in shape from an arm standpoint yet and the conservative nature in which they were handled may be to blame for that. At the same time, if the coaching staff had these guys throw 70+ pitches in spring training outings instead of the 50, I would probably making the same argument lol. This starting staff though looks like they cant carry the load as of right now and they have to.
Second Problem: Sheffield should go on the DL. Remember him playing through that shoulder last year? Sure this isn’t to the severity but watch your DH try to grip a bat and make good contact with a torn ligiments in his finger, not going to happen and it wont properly heal. Shut him down for 15 days, see how he is then and hope we don’t fall into a deep enough hole without his bat. While he’s gone DH Miggy to at least give his quad some rest instead of having him stand or needing any range out in the field. Keep Inge at third and Thomas in center. Sure Clete hasn’t been perfect in center but you can’t complain about his play right now. Maybe if our bullpen wasn’t so incompetent and we didn’t have to bring up Beltran, Raburn could stay up and fill in at third incase Pudge needs a day off, but that would be the only gap left if Shef goes on the DL that I can think of.
After seeing Cabrera’s performance last night, I’m thinking that with his sore quad he should be shut down too. These lack luster performances at the plate are being caused by him not being able to transfer weight properly and get a balanced swing. He will also not be as strong with basically a knee injury, so the swing and power won’t be there until he gets some rest and this problem heels.
It reminds me of Magglio in 05/06 when he had a series of injuries from the most prominent, hernia and then his hamstring and calf. This impacted Magglio significantly and when he finally had the chance to get healthy, you seen him produce with a career year plus a batting title. I firmly believe that’s what’s troubling Cabrera.
So if both these guys are out of the line up plus Granderson, I couldn’t give you an exact answer of what the Tigers should do or what will happen. My guess is that Raburn or Hessman would be called up and Thames would DH full time. Which short of Hessman and his propensity to swing the bat at pitches a foot out of the zone, wouldn’t be a bad scenario at all. During this time you would just hope the Tigers don’t fall into too deep of a hole but if these injuries linger with the heart of your order, they’ll never get out of the hole and both of them will be shut down by August. At this point I would rather take my chances with a partial triple A lineup that’s hungry, fast and healthy compared too Miggy and Shef who are both slow, injured and just out of it right now.
Third Problem: The Tigers are doing what they did in their huge slump last year. They get shut down in the third or fourth inning and its like they give up, start taking lazy, lethargic at bats for a 2 or 3 innings, then they press and swing at everything and they’re done. Just absolutely let the opposing teams pitching staff fall into a groove and dominate.
Cabrera and Maggs both look like they’re pressing severely. Miggy probably because of the injury, maybe a little because of the pressure of coming to a winning team for the first time in 5 years. Maggs seems too aggressive and antsy; also he’s taking home run cuts. I understand he wasn’t going to live up to last years numbers by any means but that doesn’t mean he has to resort to injured 2005 Magglio. I think Maggs is feeling the expectations to repeat the season he had last year and he needs to relax. He did look better the other night with 2 hits and a .270 batting average at this point in the season isn’t bad at all. Still I’m seeing some concerning things in his behavior at the plate. I don’t expect Maggs to come close to .360 again, he’s not Ichiro but I would like to see him hit between .300 and .320 this season. If you’re wondering about Polonco, well I am too. I have no answer to his slow start except maybe that after the past 3 seasons of hitting excellence, he’s due for a big slump at the plate. If anyone can pull out of it though, it’s him.
Fourth Problem: The Tigers attitude is completely sickening. How do you come into something as close to a must win as you’re going to get this early in the season and just bend over? At risk on starting the season at home 0-6, back to back, division sweeps and that’s the effort they put out on national fucking television not even care that you’re the joke of the fucking league right now and that your fans have booed the shit out of you 4 games in a row and that everyone else has been laughing at you! I swear they came into that 13 to 2 loss, looking like they didn’t even want to be out on the field. Their performance screamed it. Keep the lazy at-bats coming, stay loose and out of focus and that because you’re "the big bad new look tigers" that you can give a quarter effort and that will suffice because you’re just out there havin' fun!
Well that’s what I thought the mentality was until I heard the post game comments. Note: this is not verbatim, but we kept hearing "this is not just team full of stars, they’ve become like a family and the chemistry couldn’t be better" before opening day and now Leyland said after the game last night, "There’s no cohesion, not even in batting practice." Verlander said that the chemistry just isn’t there yet either right after talking himself into a corner and saying the locker-room is alright. So there’s a lot of confusion within the team of where they’re at together and if everyone is on the same wavelength. Seriously Pudge said after the game "we can pull out of this because were healthy, at least were not injured." ....Uh ok Ivan, are you so washed up that you don’t realize, Rodney, Zumaya, your best player in Granderson are on the DL, and Miggy and Shef are playing hurt?
That brings me to the fifth problem: I hate to use injuries as an excuse especially because as far as position players I think the Tigers are as deep as any team in the league. When talking about how Sheffield and Cabrera not being on the DL was a mistake, I made sure to mention other options like Inge, Thomas, Raburn, Thames and there’s also Santiago who look surprisingly good last year as well oh and don’t count out Timo Perez lol. But yes, the Tigers have quality platoon players, who you couldn’t roll with for 162 games but they’ll do fine in 25 to 50.
Still the impact of losing a player the caliber of Granderson who I believe is arguably the most complete player on the Tigers. You could argue a few others like, Polanco, Cabrera, Maggs, or Sheffield whenever he decides to put on the glove, but I say despite his struggles with left handed hitting, Grandersons absence is huge. In his place Inge and Thomas have been admirable but still, not the impact and boost you get from Granderson leading off or being in your line up period. I already detailed why Sheffield and Cabrera’s injuries are hurting them, hence hurting the team. Yes the Tigers have depth but if they’re going to measure up to potential and expectations these guys need to be in the lineup and 100% to make this offense as dynamic as billed.
With Zumaya and Rodney, I’m kind of ho-hum.As far as I’m concerned, Zumaya is a fat ass who cares more about himself developing rock star status than being a shut down set up man or closer. A player that injures himself playing video games and doing god knows what else (because it sure as hell wasn’t moving boxes) isn’t taking the game and himself seriously. He's a young man but that doesn’t mean he has to be an immature dick. Also I would like to see him work on that breaking stuff more and maybe also a slider. Listen Hot Rod, I know you want to impress the girls with your hot radar 103 mph heaters but good enough big league hitters pick up on that and will hit it back at you 130 mph. I’m not that excited for his return and I'll be the most surprised Tigers fan in the world if he can consistently reach the level he was at in 2006, ever again.
Rodney is a puss. He has little confidence and he goes to the mound scared in every appearance. If he could at least develop some damn swagger I would be a little more confident in him. You combine his natural softness with chronic shoulder tendonitis (because he doesn’t know how to pitch either) there’s a recipe for crap. That is what Rodney is 80% of the time he heads to the mound, crap. Also, Bautista is the same exact style of pitcher as Rodney, a power guy that has a hard time finding the plate, except Denny’s change up isn’t a good as Rodney’s who I will admit, when he gets it working is a strike out pitch. The problem is Rodney has had a harder a harder time setting that pitch up as time has gone on. So I don’t see him making an impact when he comes back either.
Ok, just a little left to go, hang in there!
Sixth problem: The Tigers simply aren’t a balanced ball club. I picked them to win the division and they certainly still can but I didn’t think they could get anywhere in the playoffs because of their lack of pitching. If the Tigers get to that point and say Robertson or Willis could drop to the bullpen, things might be a little different in that regard. But first of course the Tigers have to get there. Without a bullpen, pitchers who are struggling through the fifth and sixth innings or sooner, it can create an ominous lack of confidence, a feeling of impending doom, which adds pressure to the hitters. It really is a snowball effect with the delicate roster the Tigers have.
The Tigers also have 5 DH's. The horrible defense will hurt this team. Cabrera and Renteria have no range. As we seen the other night, Guillen can still fuck up at first. All these guys struggle out in the field and aren’t that fast. Toss in Maggs, whose defense I believe is underrated but still reoccurring leg injuries plus his age and lackluster speed, he could DH every day. There’s also Thames who can be a liability out in left at times, mainly because of his lack of speed. Still he delivers power when he makes contact. Want me to include whenever Hessman is called up?The Tigers have several players that could DH for most teams. A lot of power, but little glove, little speed and that could create a problem. Ironically, despite his age I think the Tigers actual DH, Sheffield, is the least qualified for every day DH on the roster. Shef was great in his short time out in right and left. He has speed and good eyes so he has good range. I would trust him in the field more than any of the players I previously mentioned.So there it is, in long winded detail. 0-6, with, in my mind, 6 problems that have contributed to the nightmarish start the season. Could they go 0-9? Of course, in Fenway, it’s hard for any team to win especially on their opening day. But I’m calling my shot; I think the Tigers will get on the left side of W-L column within the next three days (knock on Kerry Wood.) Dice-K is going Tuesday; the Tigers roughed him up last year in his second appearance against them where the Tigers touched him up for 6 earned and 10 hits. But that was on the road, and he dominated them in his first start against them at home. Still I see him as hittable. Then Lester, great young pitcher, but young pitchers are always a wildcard. Fallowing him there’s Wakefield who in my opinion is washed up and if the Tigers show just a little patience, they'll get on base and make runs happen. Of course to counter that, there’s the Tigers pitcher vs. the Red Sox hitting which....uhhhh...eeek. Should be a slugfest, but I really believe the Tigers have a good shot in Boston to at least grab that first one.That’s more than enough for now. Wings playoffs start on Wednesday and I’m going to try to get blog out on the NHL playoffs, mainly the Wings, before then. I'll also blog for the Pistons playoffs and Lions draft very soon as well. I PROMISE.Catch me on 88.3, WXOU.org on Wednesdays from 5 to 6 pm, then Thursdays on Totally Raw Sports from 2 to 3 pm!
