The All-Star break affords the opportunity to look back at the first half to see what went right and wrong for the thirty MLB teams. The Detroit Tigers are up next, and here is the pre-season post on the AL Central.
| Statistic | Detroit | AL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs per Game | 4.80 | 9th |
| Batting Averge | .259 | 11th |
| On-Base Average | .328 | 10th |
| Slugging Percentage | .422 | 8th-T |
| ERA | 4.18 | 3rd-T |
| Strikeouts per 9 IP | 7.1 | 5th-T |
| Walks per 9 ip | 3.82 | 13th |
| HR per 200 IP | 23.7 | 6th |
What Went Right
In a move to improve the team’s offense, the Tigers moved Brandon Inge to third base. Inge ended up turning into a power hitter, knocking out 21 home runs, the second highest total of his career and six short of his career high. The Tigers defense also became one of the best in the AL.
The Edwin Jackson trade turned out to be one of the best of the off-season. Jackson realized his potential. He’s striking out a lot more batters, and giving up many fewer hits. Verlander, too, upped his strikeouts and brought his ERA back to his 2006-2007 levels.
What Went Wrong
Magglio Ordonez stopped hitting. He’s 50 points below his career levels in batting average, 40 points down in OBA and 180 points in slugging percentage. He’s 35, so a fall off isn’t that surprising, but the magnitude is quite large.
Curtis Granderson’s ability to get on base fell this year, and the Tigers lineup is heavy with players (Thames, Santiago, Thomas) who hit for power without getting on base. At least they do something well, but the cost to the Tigers in outs is high.
Dontrelle Willis turned out to be a money pit, as the Tigers were not able to get him to shake his anxiety disorder. Armando Galarraga also is disappointing in the starting rotation.
Comparing the Tigers and White Sox, I’m somewhat surprised that Chicago isn’t ahead of Detroit. This should be an interesting race between the two teams down the stretch.
Other teams in this series:
- Oakland Athletics
- Seattle Mariners
- Texas Rangers
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Cincinnati Reds
- Houston Astros
- Chicago Cubs
- Milwaukee Brewers
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Baltimore Orioles
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Tampa Bay Rays
- New York Yankees
- Boston Red Sox
- San Diego Padres
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Colorado Rockies
- San Francisco Giants
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Cleveland Indians
- Kansas City Royals
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago White Sox
The Tigers overall team ERA is good, but would be a lot better without the numbers of Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis, both of whom had ERAs over 7.00. I don’t expect to see either of them pitch for the Tigers the rest of the season. Two newcomers might be able to replace them and do a lot better: Luke French and Fu-Te Ni. Still early for both, but there are good signs. The Tigers could have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball if things break right, but it’s far from a given.