Grading the Detroit Tigers One-Sixth of the Way Through the 2012 Season

The Tigers are just over one-sixth of the way through the 2012 season after coming into the year with some of the highest expectations in team history. However, Detroit has gotten off to a disappointing 15-14 start and is currently two games behind the Cleveland Indians for the American League Central lead.

Detroit has reigning American league MVP Justin Verlander and 214 million dollar man Prince Fielder, but the Tigers have stumbled out of the gate.

With minimal run support and a struggling bullpen, Detroit has hovered around .500, and lost 11 of its last 16 games.

Here are my grades for the 2012 Tigers thus far, in all phases:

Hitting: C-

In January, Fielder signed a nine-year, $214 million contract, but so far Fielder and the Tigers have been below average offensively.

Fielder is hitting .318 with five home runs, but only has 15 RBI's through 29 games.

The Tigers rank eighth in the American League scoring just 4.24 runs per game. Detroit has a team batting average of .251 and only three regular starters boast averages above .300.

In their last eight games, the Tigers have scored more than five runs just twice. In their last four losses, the Tigers have scored eight runs combined.

Six players who have played in at least 18 games are hitting .250 or below, and Brennan Boesch, who was expected to have a breakout season batting in front of Fielder and Miguel Cabrera, is hitting just .212 with 14 RBI's, and has been demoted to the bottom third of the order.

The Tigers are supposed to be a power hitting team, but rank eighth in the AL in home runs (30), and 10th in RBI's (112).

Starting Pitching: B

The Tigers came into this season boasting an above-average starting staff with reigning AL MVP Justin Verlander, and Doug Fister as the team's one-two punch.

Verlander has been stellar with a 2.63 ERA in seven starts. He averages seven and one-third innings per start while throwing 113.3 pitches per game. Verlander is also averaging 8.42 strikeouts per nine innings. Unfortunately, Verlander hasn't gotten a lot of support for his work and only has a 3-1 record to show for it.

Fister suffered a finger injury in his first start and has been on the disabled list for most of the season. He made his second start of the year on Monday and earned a no decision when the Tigers bullpen blew another lead.

22-year-old rookie Drew Smyly has been the surprise for the Tiger hurlers this season. Smyly's 1.61 ERA ranks second in the AL just behind Jered Weaver at 1.60. 

Smyly has only given up five earned runs in five starts, and has a 1-0 record with 29 strikeouts and just eight walks in 28 innings.

Detroit's No. 3 starter Max Scherzer hasn't been good. He's 1-3 in six starts with a 6.32 ERA. Scherzer has only lasted into the seventh inning once, and allowed less than three earned runs in one start.

Rick Porcello has been inconsistent in six starts so far. He's 3-2 with a 4.91 ERA, but his two losses were in back-to-back starts against the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees in April, when he gave up a combined 13 earned runs.

As a unit, the starters have had good command, combining for 146 strikeouts and 42 walks, but have just an 8-9 record with a 3.83 ERA.

Defense: C

When it comes to defense, Detroit has been average.

The Tigers defense ranks seventh in the AL with 16 errors in 29 games, and seventh with a .985 fielding percentage. However, the defensive stats don't tell the whole story.

Besides center fielder Austin Jackson, the Tigers outfield has been below average. Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young commonly flub on difficult chances, and rarely make crucial plays where they have to cover a lot of ground or leave their feet.

Cabrera has been decent in his transition to third base, but is worst on the team with three errors, and only has a .963 fielding percentage. While Prince Fielder has been good at first, he hasn't been great and has made a couple mistakes that could've cost the team.

Shortstop Johnny Peralta hasn't been able to develop middle infield chemistry as the Tigers have platooned several players at second base with mixed results.

The way the Tigers are struggling to score runs the defense will need to be a little better going forward if the team wants to contend for a division title.

Manufacturing Runs: D+

The Tigers will never be considered a small-ball team, but even their performance manufacturing runs this season has been dreadful.

The Tigers have no team speed and don't bunt very well.

Detroit is last in the AL with eight steals and tied for second-to-last with four sacrifice bunts.

Austin Jackson leads the team with five stolen bases and is the only Tiger capable of stealing. Only three other players have stolen a base this year.

The Tigers are 12th in the league with just 75 walks and also 12th in the AL in extra-base hits with just 79 as a team.

Overall, the offense has been struggling with power, and with no ability to manufacture runs, the team has been disappointing.

Relief Pitching: D-

Relief pitching has been the Achilles' heel for the Tigers so far.

The bullpen has an ERA of 4.21 and closer Jose Valverde has a 5.27 ERA and has blown two saves after going a perfect 49 for 49 last season.

Valverde has 11 walks in only 13 1/3 innings and has only retired the leadoff hitter six of 14 times in the ninth inning.

Every outing for Valverde has been an adventure.

Last season, when the Tigers led after the sixth inning, they went 77-0, but so far this year, going into the seventh with a lead, Detroit is just 11-6.

Phil Coke has been good in the bullpen for Detroit with a 1-0 record and 2.92 ERA in 12.3 innings in 14 appearances. But newly acquired reliever Octavio Dotel hasn't been so great. Dotel has four walks in 10.3 innings and a 4.35 ERA.

As a team, Detroit has blown five saves, and relievers have given up nine home runs and 47 walks in 92 innings.

Overall: C-

Through 29 games the Tigers have been disappointing and under achieving. They have been below average in almost every phase of the game and are lucky to have their head above water in a bad division. 

The Tigers are two games back of Cleveland, but are only two games up on Chicago for third place in the division.

In their last 10 games the Tigers are 5-5, and only one game above .500 at home. They are in the middle of a west coast road trip, and if they don't get things turned around soon, they will find themselves with an uphill battle the rest of the season.