Detroit Tigers: Things to improve, things to maintain for playoff push
By Matt Snyder
Maintain health
The return of J.D. Martinez earlier this month means the Tigers are now fully healthy (more or less) for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately, the Tigers are 5-8 since his return. Those extra wins will come though if they can keep players in the lineup.
A 10-day DL stint here and there is no big deal, but the Tigers don’t have the depth to lose players for extended periods of time. John Hicks and Jim Adduci filled in admirably in April and early May, but the Tigers can’t expect those types of performances from replacement level players in the future.
The Tigers are already thin enough as it is. Tyler Collins has been manning center field, but he’s more of a reserve corner outfielder than a starting center fielder. Bench players Andrew Romine, Mikie Mahtook, and Dixon Machado have solid defensive reputations, but none will add much with the bat when pressed into duty.
Things aren’t better on the pitching side of things either. Buck Farmer is coming up to make a spot start in Friday’s doubleheader, but he hasn’t proven that he can be a reliable MLB starter in a long stint. And in the bullpen the next man up would probably be Bruce Rondon who has yet to make the most of his major league opportunities.
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The Tigers probably don’t have room to add players of note at the trade deadline, so if they’re going to make a run at the playoffs they’re going to have to do it with the players already on the roster.