Detroit Tiger’s Second Week Woes: Cabrera Cools, Bullpen fails, and Hunter Hurt

Apr 11, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Victor Martinez (41) catches a ball in foul grounds during the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Padres won 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Tigers Week Two Review

The Detroit Tigers ended the first week 3-0, and I had dared to dream of the undefeated season. The end of week two brings us back closer to reality. The Tigers are 5-3 and .5 game ahead of the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central. To look ahead, everything gets real when the Indians come to town for a three game set. (An Aside: I will make my belated first trip to Comerica for Jackie Robinson Day on April 15th.)

The Second Week of the season saw the Detroit Tigers complete the first home stand against the Orioles by splitting the remaining games. The Saturday Matinee was not as close as the score suggests and Sunday’s game brought the Tigers their first mark in the loss column. They then began a West Coast National League Trip with two quick two-game stops in Los Angles and San Diego. They Split with the Dodgers. The first game the Detroit Tigers tied it in the Ninth but lost in the 10th. The Second game saw Victor Martinez bailing out Joe Nathan who had given up a three-run lead in the 9th. The game also featured Nick Castellanos’s first Major League Home Run.  After another off day, the Tiger’s arrived in San Diego, but left their lumber in Los Angeles. They were able to muster a mere one hit and lost the opener 0-6.  The Detroit Tigers went 2-3 in Week Two, not the best week.

Torii Hunter’s injury is another headline for week two. He has not been in the lineup since Tuesday when he crashed into the wall and hurt his knee.

Victor Martinez has the hot bat. He hit .353, 1 HR, 3 RBI in 20 PA this week. Rajai Davis had 5 Stolen bases while hitting .333 in 17 PA this week. The Starting Pitchers were not treated well this week.  Verlander went 0-1 in 8 innings with a 2.25 ERA, Scherzer was 0-0 in 7 innings of work with a 2.57 ERA, and Sanchez pitched 5 innings going 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA. The reasons the pitchers all failed to pick a win this week was in large part because the bullpen failed them. Al Alburquerque had a 13.50 ERA in 3 appearances and Phil Coke had a 40.50 ERA in two appearances. The Tigers’ bats were not all hot either. Miguel Cabrera had a very un-Miguel-Cabrera Week. He hit a minuscule .150 in 21 plate appearances. And Alex Avila is struggling his batting average is a Brandon Inge-esque .105 for the season. (allow your statistical appetite to go wild at fan graphs)

The Detroit Tigers’ pitching has kept them competitive this week. With a strong starting group that should continue. The Bullpen and the Lineup will need to stabilize and improve. The extent to which they are able to do so will determine whether these Tigers are more the 3-0 team that started the season or the 2-3 team of week two.

Detroit Tiger of the Week: Victor Martinez, extra-inning, game-winning home run and hit .353 for the week.

Hitter of the Week: Rajai Davis for hitting .333 and stealing 5 bases.

Pitcher of the week: The Starters

Whose Hot: The Big Three (not GM, Ford and Chrysler) – Verlander, Scherzer, and Sanchez

Whose NOT: The Bullpen, Miguel Cabrera, Alex Avila