Alright, folks. The next stop on my baseball road trip will be Comerica Park, home of those lovable, surprisingly-2nd-place Detroit Tigers. And seeing as there's a Tiger that's next up in the custom pile (having to rearrange a Marlins one for tomorrow), I might as well pre-assess them.
The Tigers...aren't doing too badly. Their lineup has gained extreme traction lately, as John Hicks has been filling in for Miguel Cabrera at 1st, and...I believe Miggy has moved to DH to accommodate for Hicks' come-up. Miggy's not doing too badly either, batting over .300 despite his infielding numbers having decreased due to age. The core of the lineup rests with youth; Jeimer Candelario, Jose Iglesias, Nick Castellanos and Leonys Martin are keeping the lineup together, and all giving some nice numbers at the plate and in the field, giving a new core that isn't sagging and decaying.
The pitching, while not bad, isn't...great. Matthew Boyd has ascended to ace status, in the absence of Michael Fulmer's better numbers. Blaine Hardy has become a surprisingly potent late-rotation addition, after also-hot Francisco Liriano wound up on the DL. Mike Fiers is doing alright, and he's the one I'll be seeing pitch today, which...is a safe enough bet, but there's a reason he was moved to the bullpen for the postseason last year. He's good, but not THE greatest.
The bullpen isn't perfect, but Shane Greene has done well after taking the closer role, Joe Jimenez is a fine middle reliever (whose BaseballReference photo makes him look like he applied his own makeup), and Louis Coleman was a nice steal from Arizona.
This is a nice enough team that has done some nice work in a dire-looking division. They're below .500, but they're still holding 2nd strong above the Twins, and...below the 1st-place Indians...who they play today.
Today might not be a perfect matchup, especially considering that Mike Clevinger is pitching for Cleveland, but it'll definitely be enjoyable, as these teams will be fighting for dominance, and that's always nice.
Writeup of this will be up (hopefully) tonight.
We were at Comerica Park last Saturday watching Matt Boyd and the Tigers on a beautiful day in Motown as my Tigers beat the Blue Jays.
ReplyDeleteIf only that card was real.
Good job.