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Can these Tigers, who are 33 games over .500, be tamed? Yes. They can, and they will. The Tigers are 11-1 against the Royals, and 3-7 against Boston, Toronto, and the Yankees. They should be 2-8 if Kyle Farnsworthless didn’t blow the last game of the four game series. They obviously have beaten up on the underbelly of the Central but can’t handle the beasts of the East. They’re also 3-7 against the defending champions, despite just taking two out of three.
So far they are 26-20 against teams with a record over .500 and 38-11 against everyone else. From now until the last day of the season Detroit has 28 games left with Boston, Minnesota, Toronto, New York, and Chicago. Against those teams the Tigers are 13-16. The Tigers are 7-2 so far against the Twinkies. However, since June 1st, the Twins are 30-11.
Well, what about their great pitching staff? Against winning teams, their ERA is 4.06, and against losing ones it’s 3.06. Should we trust a pitching staff that is lead by Kenny Rogers, and has Todd Jones closing games? Jones has an ERA of 5.26. Batters are hitting .291 against him, and he has a WHIP of 1.4. Rogers is having somewhat of a good year, but should we trust him in a big game? Would you trust a guy who is 0-3, with an ERA approaching 9 in the post season? I wouldn’t.The Tigers are also a very young team, which means they’re inexperienced. The Tigers are the kind of team that will make Johnson and Schilling look like they’re 35 again, and Mussina like he’s 25. They’re 28th in walks and 7th in strikeouts. Mussina has completed one game this year, in which he allowed no earned runs and walked only one. That game was against Detroit. Schilling pitched 6 innings, struck out 8, and walked none against them, and Johnson had a no-no going into the 6th. My point is that a veteran pitcher can easily out-smart this team, and that’s what they’re going to see in the post season: a smart, veteran pitcher who should be able to know how to pitch to a bunch of kids who can’t take a walk and strike out an awful lot.
Even though the Tigers have a bunch of holes, they still have a pretty good chance at making the playoffs. They are 33 games above .500 with only 67 games to play. However, this team is not running away with anything just yet.
Prediction- 93-69, eliminated in four games in the ALDS.
Disagree with something? Got something to add? Wanna bring up something totally new? Tony Aubry lives in Queens, New York, and can be reached at tony@baseballevolution.com.
