Detroit Tigers: Offensive Futility Continues as the Team Drops Below .500

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Saturday, dropping to 16-17 this season and under .500 for the first time since May 29, 2011, when they were 25-26.

The Tigers' offensive futility continued as they scored just one run and lost for the 12th time in their last 17 games. Detroit hasn't won back-to-back games since April 17 and 18, and the Tigers have scored four runs or less in eight of the last 10 games.

The Tigers came into this season as a unanimous favorite to run away with their second consecutive American League Central division title, but they have been inconsistent in all phases, especially at the plate.

Prince Fielder signed a nine-year, $214 million contract in January, and with reigning AL batting champion Miguel Cabrera, a healthy Brennan Boesch, Delmon Young and several other proven power hitters, the Tigers offense—on paper—was scary.

But Detroit's offense hasn't been scary—it's been awful.

The Tigers are 14th in MLB in scoring offense, with 4.2 runs per game (139 total). They are 11th in average, 15th in on-base percentage and 13th in slugging, hitting .254/.313/.397 as a team.

Andy Dirks has been the only player to exceed expectations offensively, hitting .379 in 20 games; other than Dirks, Austin Jackson is the only regular starter hitting for more than .300 (.317).

Cabrera and Fielder are fifth and sixth on the team in average, hitting .282 and .276, respectively. Cabrera suffered through an 0-for-22 slump in April, and Fielder is hitting 23 points lower than he did last season. He is only on pace to hit 78 RBI, 42 less than last season.

And, the Tigers have several regular starters struggling mightily at the plate.

Ryan Raburn leads the team in hopelessness with a terrible .128 average, zero home runs and two RBI in 27 games. Ramon Santiago has played 23 games and is hitting just .157 with no home runs and two RBI.

Boesch—who was expected to have a breakout season—is hitting .223, with just 15 RBI in 32 games. And when Young isn't being arrested for anti-Semitism, he's averaging just .237, with one home run and nine RBI.

Detroit got off to a good start offensively and looked to live up to the enormous early expectations, but as the bats have quieted, the Tigers have become simply mediocre.

"You can look better swinging the bats and still not get any hits. I've seen signs but not many," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after Saturday's loss. "We’re just not looking good swinging the bats. We're not putting anything together."

The Tigers' futile offense has looked even worse considering the way the bullpen has struggled so far this season. After going 77-0 in games it led going into the seventh inning last season, Detroit has lost six games with a lead in the seventh or later this year.

The bullpen's inconsistency, combined with the lack of offense, has led to a two-game deficit in the AL Central, and the Tigers coaching staff looking for answers.

Leyland has shuffled his lineup several times, looking for the right combination to get the bats to wake up and for the offense to start clicking collectively, but nothing has worked.

And now fans are calling for hitting coach Lloyd McClendon to be fired.

But lineup shuffling or a fired hitting coach shouldn't be what it takes for professional, proven hitters to wake their bats up.

As the season progresses, all of the Tigers need to figure out the kinks in their swing and approach, and right the ship, because if they don't start to collectively pick up the pace, as a unit, Detroit might be on the outside looking in come October.