Despite everything, despite the effort, the contracts, the rebranding as a competitor...the Detroit Tigers have five major pieces hitting under the Mendoza line. Javier Baez, Robbie Grossman, Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan Schoop and Akil Baddoo. All five of them are people that are capable of good things in Detroit, and have suddenly forgotten how to provide any.
That's the heartbreaking thing. The Tigers made waves by signing Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez, and right now Baez is hitting .197 and Rodriguez is 1-3 and sitting on the IL again. You get these pieces hoping to supplant a building core, then the core stalls and the new pieces can't help you any. If it weren't a team as banal and mediocre as the Tigers, I might actually feel sorry for them.
Baez I do feel sorry for, because last season was more peak Baez, with the stealing first play that got a guy blacklisted from the MLB [and not even in a decorum way, Tony]. He succeeds with Chicago, he succeeds with the Mets, he signs a big money deal with the Tigers, has a decent first month, and then...down below standards.
What's even more heartbreaking is that the team's current leader in RBIs, hits and OPS is Miguel Cabrera, who's having a solid, .286 season at 39 that doesn't count as a good season to statisticians for some reason. This is the ultimate 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink' season, because all these great players, including Spencer Torkelson and Kody Clemens, get brought in here and nothing gets done.
...and they get to play the Yankees this week! Fun!
What I can say for this team is that they've made the rotation work somehow, thanks to people like Alex Faedo, Wily Peralta and Beau Briske. And yes, Tarik Skubal, as the one young arm to actually stay healthy, is looking pretty awesome this year. I think they could really use Casey Mize and Matt Manning eventually, as guys like Elvin Rodriguez aren't gonna be it forever. Also, Gregory Soto is actually a pretty effective closer, and Alex Lange, Will Vest and Andrew Chafin are excellent bullpen pieces, so it honestly could be a lot worse.
I just need some of these pieces to pick up. I need Baez to start hitting. Though preferably not til after this series with the Yanks.
Coming Tomorrow- He wanted a starting catching gig, and well....he got one!
Gonna need one of those cool Baez cards.
ReplyDelete