The Tigers this year have been hanging onto the fringes of what is considered 'good baseball'. They had a 5 game winning streak last month, then they had another 5-game winning streak to begin this month. The products of these streaks make up 5/9ths [more than half] of the team's 18 overall wins. So they're good at winning a bunch of games in a row, but they're not very good at winning games...otherwise.
It's strange. These Tigers teams are always strange because the tools necessary to compete are all there, and they just never exactly click into place the way they're supposed to. Every year in Detroit is leading a horse to water that is defiantly against drinking. Passed out on the side of the oasis, knowing the solution but too stubborn to actually use it. You've got a whole rotation that keeps getting injured, two of the biggest prospects in baseball who have a combined 0.5 WAR, and a bunch of legitimately great players who aren't keen to channel their best years.
[Save for Eddie Rodriguez, he's doing great.]
I mean, Riley Greene is still one of the best players on this team. He's not really hitting, he only has 15 RBIs. He's not a terrific fielder, he's got negative defensive WAR numbers. He at least has 5 steals and is still a good baserunner, but...he's not exactly running the team. Yes, I am aware that he's only 22 and not everyone is Juan Soto, but Greene was looking way better than this in the minors. Same with Spencer Torkelson, who once again refuses to deliver anything salvageable at MLB levels, even with 17 RBIs. These two weren't supposed to be struggling this badly, and yet here we are.
The same problems have persisted. Nobody's hitting home runs, the injuries are keeping the rotation from being in any way intimidating, too many starring players are hitting under the Mendoza line, and whichever impressive players are there [Alex Lange, Jake Rogers] may not be there after July. I wish there was something that could stop the cycle, like, I dunno, Casey Mize, Matt Manning or Tarik Skubal all being healthy and dominant at once. But will that ever happen?
The Tigers have this much that they're struggling with...and yet they're in third place handsomely, with enough of a chance to lap the Guardians in the next week or so. What a wild team this is.
Coming Tonight: A shortstop that went from a contender to a team that is just now contending again.
No comments:
Post a Comment