This year more than any other, guys who've been on teams for a while have been pining to compete again. Adrian Beltre did it. Joey Votto did it a little. And I can only imagine Justin Verlander's been doing it, as he's used a few starts as 'auditions' for the Astros' rotation, only to wind up still pitching for his beloved Tigers. Yes, it'd be nice if this was still 2012, and the Tigers were still a powerful, World Series-caliber team, but now that the only things to go to games include Justin Upton, and...Mr. Kate Upton, it's all feeling very glum for Tigers fans.
Like...what do they have right now? They have two good pitchers, Verlander and Fulmer, and some surging players like Upton and Mikie Mahtook, but...honestly, there's a whole lot of blah. There's two guys that could be playing well, Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler, but various controversies are keeping them from having immaculate, positive seasons. Some guys, like Jordan Zimmermann and Nick Castellanos, are just disappointing this year. Some guys who were doing really well, like Alex Avila, JD Martinez and Justin Wilson, are now doing really well for better teams. Not a ton is left that's even worth writing about.
Plus, it's not even a season where Kate Upton can do some lobbying for her boyfriend to get another Cy Young. If anybody's gonna get any end-of-the-season praise, it'll probably be Upton, but Verlander might look to get out of Detroit if he can. The guy's a great pitcher, a potential future Hall of Famer, but there's a feeling that he's potentially one more truly great season away from being a sure shot. Still, even finishing out this season, it's clear he's one of the best.
Coming Tomorrow- Even five years later, he's still one of the reasons people come to Cubs games.
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