Detroit Tigers mid season review

The Detroit Tigers get to the symbolic half point of the season (the MLB All-Star break) with a 44-42 record. The sit in third place in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox, and another half game back of the second place Cleveland Indians. We could use a lot of adjectives to describe the first half of the 2012 season. Frustrating, inconsistent, under performing, but in the end they have simply failed to live up to lofty expectations of their fans and the media. That is not entirely their fault, and while the roster still has visible holes, this team may be finding their stroke.

The Tigers get to the all-star break on a five game winning streak, and have gone 7-3 in their last ten games. They are 17-14 against the division rivals, but are 1-5 against the Indians, and 5-4 against the lowly Minnesota Twins. They have beaten up on the Kansas City Royals so far going 7-1, and inter-league play was pretty good to them as they went 11-7 against the National League teams.

As a team the Tigers are hitting .269 and that is good enough for second among the 14ALteams. They do rank first among triples, but only 10th in home runs. With a lineup that boasts Miguel Cabrera, and Prince Fielder that number has to come up. No surprise that they are next to last amongALteams in stolen bags, but it is surprising they are not last. Tigers’ batters have struck out 597 times, and drawn 259 walks.

The pitching staff has actually been quite good, especially when we look at the starting rotation. The thing to remember here is we have not seen a completely healthy Doug Fister get in a groove yet. Last year he was excellent after the trade deadline and if he gets hot this team looks a heck of a lot better. They lead theALin strike outs, but the staff does have a 4.00 ERA, and the bullpen has been shaky at times. However, the arms of the Tigers are a strength and they should carry this team to a far better second half.

The porous defense is something to be concerned about. This team needs a better option at second base nearly every day, but it seems Ramon Santiago is responding to being in the lineup more of late. He may be the answer there, but this team would look to add another infielder of corner outfielder to help with the defense. With Delmon Young heating up over the past week it will be hard to argue against him not being in the lineup each day. However he seems to fit better at DH than as the starting left fielder. Time will tell on that one. They are also waiting for Victor Martinez to come back and solidify the fifth spot in this batting order and give Prince a little more protection.