As
we reach the third week of the season, we have arrived at the perfect time to
begin jumping to conclusions. Being a Tigers fan, I can now say that after
twelve games, they will win the Division. I’m exaggerating of course. Going
into the season I have been cautiously optimistic. When the off-season started
and there were rumors of us getting younger, I was concerned. When they signed
Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera to their contracts, I knew we were paying
for some past performances. Typically, these contracts aren’t going to be worth
the money in the end, but I am ok with that. I want to see Miggy get his 500th
and hopefully 600th home-run in a Tigers uniform. I want to see JV
get to 200, 225 and hopefully 250 wins as a Tiger as well. I may be in the
minority, but as someone who enjoys celebrating major career milestones, I
believe those accomplishments are worth the money down the road (It’s not my
money!). The Yankees attempted to capitalize on the very same situation with
A-Rod before that blew up.
(Photo: Michael Caples Michigan Hockey Now) |
It
was interesting to watch the Tigers come to Tigerfest in February, and when they
started interacting with the media, you could tell some of the players experienced
a reality check. They showed a genuine appreciation that they have another shot
at a playoff run. Then we had the unfortunate passing of Mr. Illitch. He was such
an iconic figure in the city of Detroit. His contributions went far beyond
sports. He was a true gentleman and he will be greatly missed. Some of the
players were visibly distraught at the loss. They all know how badly he wanted
a World Series title as our owner. He purchased the team in 1992, and was a
former minor league baseball player so baseball was a strong passion of his.
Going into Spring Training, I was curious to see how those two things would
affect this team. They had a pretty rough spring if you look at their record (14-21),
but I wouldn’t put too much stock into that. There were some promising things
coming out of training camp. Jacoby Jones looked strong, Matt Boyd won the fifth
starter spot, and Joe Jimenez showed why he is considered the closer of the
future.
When
I am watching the Tigers throughout the season there are two things I use to
assess their performance: Win the games you are supposed to win and win series
at home. Play .500 baseball on the road and win 2 of 3 at home and you will be
in the hunt for the playoffs. Using these metrics, I believe we are right where
we should be. We split a road series in Chicago, we took 3 of 4 from the Red
Sox at home, and took 2 of 3 from the Twins at home. That led us to the weekend
series against the Indians in Cleveland. I said going into the weekend that 1
of 3 was crucial to us re-establishing confidence in being able to beat
Cleveland. Last year was tough. Cleveland was due for some comeuppance. From
2013-2015 (In between Cleveland’s two most recent playoff appearances), we
owned Cleveland. For those three years, our record against them was 37-19. At
some point, they were going to get their opportunity and last year they got it,
going 4-14. We managed to take 2 of 3 from them in Cleveland and that was with
Justin Verlander getting hit hard.

(Photo: Ken Blaze USA TODAY Sports)

(Photo: Ken Blaze USA TODAY Sports)
The
Tigers are 8-4, and If you would’ve asked me at the start of the season, my
expectation would have been 7-5 at worst, and 9-3 at best case scenario. The starting
pitching is looking solid. The bottom of the lineup has over-performed and for
the most part the middle of the lineup has under-performed. It is encouraging to
have had this kind of success without strong numbers from Miggy, J-UP or VMart,
all three of which consistently hit their numbers. The bullpen has been off to
a rough start, but there are a handful of teams in the exact same position.
K-Rod always starts off slow. He never gets in a lot of work in the spring and
usually works his way in the first week of the season. Justin Wilson looks much
better than last year. After that the rest of the bullpen is questionable at
best. There is still a need there.
Jim
Leyland always said the first bench mark used to judge a team is 40 games. Based
on their schedule, if they are sitting at 24-16, they are right where they need
to be. Maybe then, some of these “experts” will start giving them more credit
in their rankings then they have so far.