Bleacher Report - Detroit Tigers

Selecting the AL Central's Position Player First Quarter All-Star Team

Josh Berenter — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:31:26 -0400

The American League Central is one of the most interesting divisions in all of baseball this season.

The Detroit Tigers once again entered the year as runaway favorites to take the division crown, and are once again struggling at the first quarter mark, trailing the Cleveland Indians by 2.5 games.

The Indians, who finished 20 games back in the division last year with only 68 wins, are on pace to reach close to 100 wins this season, and are the hottest team in baseball, winning 18 of their last 22 games.

But unlike the Tigers, the Indians aren't doing it with star power.

The Tigers lead the AL in runs, average and on-base percentage, but have struggled lately, going 4-6 in their last 10 games, with two of those wins coming against the dreadful Houston Astros.

Yet, most of the players on this list are donning the Old English D.

It has been a fun first quarter to watch, and has definitely been unexplainable at times, but here is my list for the AL Central Position Player All Stars at the first quarter mark:

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Monday Morning Manager: A Weekly Take on the Detroit Tigers

Greg Eno — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:11:10 -0400

Last Week: 3-4

This Week: at Cle (5/21-22); MIN (5/23-26)

So, What Happened?

Toto, I don't think the Tigers are playing Houston anymore.

The Tigers are 6-1 against the Astros, and 23-19 overall. MMM will save you the math. That's 17-18 against the rest of baseball.

Not ridiculous, but maybe a little troubling?

Last week was a microcosm of sorts. The Tigers went 2-1 against Houston, 1-3 against the rest of baseball. Correction—the best of baseball.

Gee, those Texas Rangers can hit, eh?

The Rangers looked at the Tigers' glorified starting rotation and gave it a Texas-sized laugh.

The Rangers scored 29 runs against our boys last weekend, and that's numbing considering Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister combined to pitch about 11 innings in their starts.

That's impressive hitting.

Before the horrid weekend in Texas, the Tigers beat down the Astros twice more before finally losing to Houston on Wednesday afternoon, when the 'Stros managed two runs in the top of the ninth to win, 7-5.

Oh, and some guy named Cabrera hit three home runs on Sunday night, each more impressive than the previous one. The Tigers still lost in one of the most frustrating games MMM has ever watched.

To make matters worse, the Tigers fell out of first place. The (gulp) Cleveland Indians are in the catbird's seat, by two games.

Hero of the Week

MMM was struck by something FSD's Rod Allen said during a recent broadcast.

Allen said he was chatting with Tigers legend and Hall of Famer Al Kaline. Allen asked Kaline if he'd seen anyone like Cabrera—whether a teammate or someone Kaline played against. Now, we're talking 60 years of MLB (Kaline debuted in 1953).

Kaline flatly told Rod that no, he's never seen anyone who can do the things with the bat that Cabrera can do.

MMM thinks that if someone like Al Kaline puts you in a class by yourself, then that's saying something.

MMM is making Miggy HotW largely for his three-homer effort on Sunday, but he had a good week other than that. Heck, Miggy always seems to have a good week, eh?

Cabrera went 12/28 (.429) with four homers, seven RBI and seven runs scored.

Just another week at the office.

Cabrera's performance on Sunday night was amazing.

The third homer, especially—a pitch that jammed him near his wrists, yet was driven over the CF wall—was jaw-dropping. The ESPN announcers, Orel Hershiser and John Kruk, were beside themselves.

"Aw, heck, he's just better than everyone else. Let's just go with that," Kruk said finally.

Miggy is, and he was again for the Tigers last week.

Honorable mentions: Don Kelly (for filling in admirably in CF and knocking a homer); rookie RHP Evan Kelly (two strong outings in Texas).

Goat of the Week

Where would you like MMM to start?

There was suspect fielding, bad pitching, and questionable decisions—and most of that happened in the seventh inning on Sunday night alone.

It wasn't the greatest of weeks.

MMM is going to name, as a trio, Verlander, Sanchez and Fister as co-Goats.

The Tigers' Big Three of Four (don't forget Mad Max Scherzer) simply didn't get it done against Texas. They didn't come close to slowing the Rangers down, and JV and Fister had leads with which to work with. They each let their respective games slip away.

Ugly starts from those three guys.

The bullpen, as a result, got drained, and thank goodness for Monday's off day to allow those arms to rest.

Look, the big boys have to be the big boys and they have to take the heat when they don't get the job done. Verlander, Sanchez and Fister let the Tigers down, big time, in a "measuring stick" series.

Under the Microscope

MMM is too lazy to pore over the archives, but this week may be a first.

Justin Verlander, meet the microscope.

Twitter and MLive's comments section are aflutter with worries about JV. Is his velocity down for a reason? Why have his last two starts been so bad? Is he going south?

MMM would like everyone to exhale, but still thinks Verlander should be scrutinized.

Why?

Well, the last two starts have been rough. Thursday's was downright ridiculous.

Plus, the storied fastball seems to have abandoned Verlander, mainly from a command standpoint.

MMM thinks that Verlander gets too amped up sometimes. The much-ballyhooed match-up between JV and Texas' Yu Darvish on Thursday qualifies as one of those "big games" that sometimes gets Verlander to do too much.

He overthrows. He walks guys (walked in TWO on Thursday). He throws too many pitches. He gives up hits on 0-2 counts. And so on.

That's what happened on Thursday, and JV wasn't all that sharp against Cleveland the start before that.

His ERA jumped from 1.93 to 3.17 after the debacle in Texas. He is 4-4.

MMM doesn't think it's necessarily alarming, but still enough to place JV's start on Wednesday UtM.

Besides, MMM is curious to see how Verlander's countenance is in his first start after his Texas-sized meltdown.

Upcoming: Indians, Twins

Back to the AL Central salt mines this week.

Wait—are those the Cleveland Indians in first place? Do MMM's eyes deceive him?

Yes, the Tribe is hot. They are 17-4 in their past 21 games, and have surged from 8-13 and last place to 25-17 and first place.

But we've seen this before, haven't we?

The Indians have been a pretty good April to June team in recent years. But when the temps get hotter, the Tribe gets colder.

Their second half collapses are well-noted.

But for now, with some new players, the Indians are enjoying a great run. And they host the Tigers in a two-game mini-series this week.

MMM doesn't think Cleveland has the horses to stick around all summer, but who the heck knows?

Tigers starters: Scherzer, Verlander.

After the quick trip to Cleveland, it's back to the good side of Lake Erie for four games against the slumping Twins at CoPa.

The Twinkies have lost five straight and have sunk to the depths of the division at 18-22.

Joe Mauer's 15-game hitting streak was stopped Sunday against Boston.

The Twins were stopped several games prior to that.

For about 35 games, the Twins raised some eyebrows with their .500 play and the general nuisance they were causing in the division. Now, they are back to being the team most thought they were prior to the season.

Remember, this is a team that didn't even settle on who was in their five-man rotation until AFTER spring training, and didn't name an Opening Day starter until less than a week before the game.

But Mauer is back to the Mauer of old. He's batting .342 and he has 17 doubles. But he is striking out once every four at-bats, which is not like the Mauer of old. Still, .342 is .342.

The Twins' bugaboo is their starting pitching. No one in the rotation has an ERA lower than 4.66, and three of their starters have ERAs of 5.85-plus.

Tigers starters: Porcello, Sanchez, Fister, Scherzer.

The Tigers need a big week. Yes, it's May, but the team is wobbly now. They are 4-8 in their last 12 games, and the Indians are feeling good about themselves. As Mickey Redmond would say, time to "get 'er goin'."

That's all for this week's MMM. See you next week!

Read more Detroit Tigers news on BleacherReport.com

Miguel Cabrera Clubs 3 Home Runs as Rangers Defeat Tigers 11-8

Maxwell Ogden — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:12:26 -0400

MLB crowned its first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 when Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera hit for 44 home runs and 139 RBI on a batting average of .330 last season.

In 2013, Cabrera is picking up where he left off.

The Texas Rangers may have won 11-8, but it was Cabrera who shone Sunday night with three home runs.

I think that's good.

Cabrera finished the day at 4-for-4 with three home runs, five RBI and four runs scored. Even as his team lost, it's hard to place blame on a player who put on one of the best performances you'll see all season.

In fact, his individual outing was one for the record books.

This is one of those games where you can't help but ask, "How did they lose?"

As one might expect, the Twittersphere erupted in praise of Cabrera, the general consensus being that he is the best hitter in the world.

Is there a rational argument against such belief?

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, quite the well-rounded player in his own regard, kept it short and sweet. Cabrera is pretty good.

Just a little bit.

Washington Nationals right fielder and potential MVP candidate Bryce Harper wasn't so modest about his praise. The second-year player spoke it how we know it to be.

If you can find a player who matches Cabrera, we'll listen.

When it comes right down to it, there are only so many words that can describe what Cabrera does as a hitter. Not only is he one of the best at making contact, but he's an elite deep-ball threat who appears to be the class of the American League in every statistical area.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports put it best:

After Sunday night, there's only one thing that Cabrera deserves—our admiration.

Read more Detroit Tigers news on BleacherReport.com

4 Things We Learned About Detroit Tigers Through the First Quarter of the Season

Brett Kaplan — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:33:07 -0400

With the one-quarter mark of the 2013 season approaching, the Detroit Tigers have reinforced the fans' offseason hype that they are a strong World Series contender.

After a sluggish 9-9 start to the season, the Tigers have been terrific since late April and are currently tied for first place in the AL Central with a 22-17 record.

In a bit of a surprise, the Cleveland Indians are 7-3 in their last 10 games and are currently tied in the standings with the Tigers. While the season is still early, it appears that the Indians could challenge the Tigers throughout the season for first place.

Throughout the start of the season, we've already learned multiple things about this Tigers team in their quest to win the city of Detroit their first World Series in 29 years.

*All statistics are accurate as of May 17.

**All statistics are from espn.com, Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com.

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