Detroit Tigers: Fear not, the season is far from over, but there are plenty of concerns

No, the Detroit Tigers season is not over on April 25, but there are plenty of causes for concern on this team headed forward.

It was not great to be a Detroit sports fan last week, and while the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons are about to begin their offseasons, you would think by monitoring Detroit Tigers Twitter that the baseball team’s season is also over after 17 games.  While things don’t appear rosy in Tiger Town, it is good to have a little bit of pause before burying this team so early.

Let’s explore the bright side first.

There is little doubt that the Tigers played terrible baseball last week. They couldn’t hit, they couldn’t run, they couldn’t pitch, and they couldn’t play defense. That horrible combination usually leads to plenty of losses, and it did.

Detroit came into the week with a 7-4 mark after dropping their first series of the year to a playoff team from a year ago in the Houston Astros. Monday they sit at 8-9 after dropping five of the last six games.

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Backtrack three games prior to the Cleveland Indians series, in which the Tigers allowed the Tribe to sweep them in their home ballpark for the first time since 2008, after dropping two of three to the Kansas City Royals. At 8-6, it was not a terrible mark to be carrying, considering the Tigers had played all but four of their 14 games on the road, with all but two of those games coming against 2015 playoff teams.

Teams sometimes get swept in the regular season, especially against division rivals in a good division like the AL Central. After-all, the Tigers swept Cleveland in their home opening series last year, and we all know how Detroit built on that momentum.

So the Tigers sit here, on April 25, with a sub-.500 record. That’s better than if it was August 25. Point being, there is plenty of time to right this ship. For instance, the 2014 Kansas City Royals did not right their ship until after the All-Star break. They stormed to a wild-card berth and were 90 feet from tying the 7th game of the World Series and decided to win it all the following year.

So it is possible to have a sub .500 first-half, let alone a sub .500 first 17 games, and still be successful. There is plenty of time to play like we thought this team could.

But wait, “play like we thought this team could.” Let’s explore that now–and this is where this article goes from sunshine and gumdrops to doom and gloom. If you’re the type that likes to be encouraged, stop reading now.

We thought we were getting a better team than the one that finished dead last in the Central, snapping a streak of four straight division titles. Most fans, however, had to look at this team with a little skepticism and think that everything had to go right for them to grab a playoff spot, and so far that has not happened. Let’s explore the reasons.

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Miggy & V-Mart

One of the events that had to happen for the Tigers to return to glory was that Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez needed to hit for power again. With the sluggers dealing with injuries through much of 2015 that hampered their power numbers, they both had big question marks next to their names, especially V-Mart who missed most of Spring Training.

Still, when they played in Grapefruit League action, each showed some pop. Seeing the early results would show that once again there is no correlation between good practice baseball results and real ones. V-Mart hit two homers off the bench in each of the games at Miami, but has been punchless since while playing pretty much every day.

Miggy has looked as lost as he ever has in a Tigers’ uniform, hitting just four extra base hits with one homer and hovering near the Mendoza line of .200. Even when he wasn’t piling on homer totals in usual Miggy fashion, he was at least getting plenty of doubles. This is no longer the case.

Starting Pitching

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Another aspect that needed to go the Tigers way was the starting pitching. While the bullpen has been solid much of the year, being taxed by the starters woes the last few days has even started to see their luster wear off.

So far, Justin Verlander has been so-so. He was decent against Miami on Opening Day, struggled in the next two starts, and was very good Friday night against Cleveland, even striking out 10 Indians. Yet, allowing runs in the first inning has been his downfall this season, putting his offense behind the 8-ball early.

Meanwhile Anibal Sanchez got rocked on Saturday and looks to be more of what he showed last season than the Sanchez who won the ERA title in 2013, the pitcher the Tigers desperately needed to return. Shane Greene has also been up and down, but was pulled early in Sunday’s game for a blister. Who knows how long this ailment will keep him out, or how it will affect him when he return.

And Mike Pelfrey…well he’s shown nothing for the $16 million he’ll be paid the next few years.

Miscellaneous 

There were other things the Tigers needed to go their way to contend this season, such as Justin Upton being able to hit consistently and not strikeout so much, which also has not happened.  No fan could ever imagine the 2-3-4 in the Tigers’ lineup being so terrible and unreliable in the season’s first three weeks.

Relying on yet another aging closer that has to get outs with craftiness instead of pitch speed was always going to be a gamble for the team when taking on Francisco Rodriguez. Although he has not cost them a game yet (Detroit won his only blown save, on Opening Day), he has yet to look comfortable on the mound and is out an undetermined amount of time dealing with a family issue.

The last few years, the Tigers were crushed by injuries and you had to think it would finally swing the other way, but that has been far from the case. The club has been impacted by injuries to Daniel Norris, Cameron Maybin and Greene, so it doesn’t appear their luck is improving in that area.

Conclusion 

There have been plenty of pleasant surprises thus far such as Ian Kinsler‘s hitting, Jose Iglesias‘ better all-around play, Nick Castellanos seeming to come into his own, and a bullpen, aside from K-Rod, looking pretty potent.

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It’s a long season and no team is ever buried in April, but the Tigers have to hope a lot of things get better in the coming weeks.

And if all you’re relying on is “hope,” well, we could be in for a bumpy ride.