The 2023 Tigers have more wins than Miguel Cabrera has hits. Eleven wins. Which doesn't say much about Cabrera or the Tigers right now.
The weird part about this Tigers team, aside from, like having six top prospects on the active roster and having none of them do a damned thing, is that they're actually kind of good in places this year. It's not a full success, but some of the moves the Tigers have made, like signing Eduardo Rodriguez and trading for Nick Maton and Matt Vierling, are paying off. Rodriguez has been excellent so far, with a 2.21 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 6 starts. Maton leads the team in homers with, uh, 4, and Vierling his hitting .284 with 8 RBIs. These aren't very high bars, but for the Tigers they're very high.
Then there's Javier Baez, who is beginning to approach his prior numbers. He's only gotten 11 RBIs, and he hasn't hit any home runs, but Baez the defender is still there, and the Tigers can at least reap the rewards of having a killer defender on a team with a lot of people who aren't exactly known for their defense [Torkelson is basically a 1st baseman by default]. Even with Cabrera in the lineup and Greene building his case, I think Baez is still the marquee guy in Detroit, and even if he hasn't quite lived up to his Cubs numbers yet, he's still got quite a bit left to offer.
The main problem with this team is that the depth guys are in at a lot of positions thanks to all the injuries. Austin Meadows, who looked like a steal last year, is out with another injury, this one mental-health related, and now a not-quite-2021-level Akil Baddoo is basically starting everyday. Kerry Carpenter is also out for a bit, meaning Vierling is now the starting guy as well [not as bad]. Ultimately, the big issue is the entirety of Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning and Beau Briske out, and none of the four that have replaced them have an ERA lower than 5. It's even people like Spencer Turnbull and Matt Boyd, once confident staples of this rotation, who are struggling to keep runs down.
What's nice is that the Tigers have held their own against strong teams, and already took one against the Mets earlier today. They don't have a ton switched on right now, but they also have a lot more than you might think, and a few more players than the Sox or Royals have working. Maybe the Tigers become a sleeper team down the line, who knows. There's so many variables just waiting to switch on, you never know when they will and what that'll do.
Coming Tomorrow- Ironically, one of the people who took over for Baez in the infield back in Chicago.
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