State of the Tigers

Baseball season is right around the corner, and the voice of the turtle can be heard one more. The Tigers are looking to capitalize on the momentum from last season. A season which saw them go (95-67) and win an AL Central Division title, before losing a tough 7-game series to the Texas Rangers 4-2. What are the expectations for this year? Well here’s what I think:

I see the Tigers as the big front-runners in the American League Central Division again. They still have a very good rotation. Justin Verlander who’s coming off a 24-win, no-hitter, and AL Cy Young and MVP season is still as dominant as ever, Max Scherzer is still decent, and Doug Fister was a huge pickup for them last year. I’d be a little concerned about Rick Porcello. He seemed to struggle a lot last year, and his control wasn’t as good as it was during his rookie season.

Their bullpen should be fine in the later innings. Jose Valverde is still Mr. Reliable and Joaquin Benoit is a decent set up man, but I’d be a little worried about their middle relief. Octavio Dotel had shown signs of getting shelled recently, and I don’t know if he’s entirely the right guy to replace Ryan Perry and Joel Zumaya who were lost in the offseason. If anything happens to Valverde and Benoit, they’re in real trouble, because Phil Coke, who has experience as a closer, can’t be counted on to nail a save down on a constant basis.

Offensively, this team will be good. Delmon Young, Brennan Boesch, and Don Kelly each made significant contributions last year, and Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila had All-Star seasons. Their upside is huge. Losing Victor Martinez for the entire season will hurt them, but they may have compensated for that by signing Prince Fielder in the offseason. Fielder is a decent hitter and will provide protection for Miguel Cabrera.

The only problem I see with Cabrera is that he’s moving to third base, a position he hasn’t played for in years. If this experiment doesn’t work, Brandon Inge is the incumbent to replace Cabrera at third. Unfortunately, Inge wants to play every day and isn’t too happy about being the odd-man out. I honestly think he may be on his way out by the end of spring training.

Players like Ramon Santiago, Ryan Raburn, and Austin Jackson need to improve. Raburn usually picks things up during the second half of the season, but he’ll need to be better in the first half, or he may be sent down to the minors, or worse. Austin Jackson needs to not only hit better, he needs to cut down on his strike-outs. Too many times last year, he was in clutch situations where he blew them all. I think he could benefit from a short stint in the minors to learn how to swing the bat, then come up when he’s worked out a few kinks in his system. If he doesn’t start hitting, maybe he’s not cut out to be the Tigers’ leadoff hitter this season.

The only other player I don’t see making a huge impact is Gerald Laird. Laird was with the Tigers a few years ago, but I feel they liked him for what he did behind the plate, not at it. He had a ridiculous .178 batting average and worse, he was unreliable for them in clutch situations. I feel he’ll only be in the lineup on certain days to give Alex Avila a rest.

All in all, I still see the Tigers having a good year. I’d say their record will be (98-64) with another division title. Look for them to make another run at the World Series when it’s all said and done.