MLB Playoffs 2012: Players Costing Detroit the World Series

The Detroit Tigers are down 0-2 to the San Francisco Giants in the 2012 MLB World Series. The Tigers haven’t looked good thus far and hope that a visit home to Detroit can get them a win or two.

But home field advantage alone isn’t going to beat the Giants. Some of Detroit’s players have been downright disappointing in the Fall Classic and these guys will have to step it up to make a comeback against San Francisco.

Prince Fielder 

Prince Fielder is 1-for-6 in the World Series.

But that one hit… it was a home run, right? No. It was a single.

Fielder signed a 10-year deal with Detroit in the offseason, but the way he’s been playing in the postseason, he’s not looking like a player worth $214 million.

He has just one home run and three RBIs in the postseason and is batting .205. That’s compared to his .313 regular season average.

Fielder was a part of a critical play early in Game 2 when he was thrown out at home after trying to score from first base off a Delmon Young double. And just for the record, Fielder was only on base because he was hit by a pitch.

Fielder has certainly not lived up to expectations in the postseason, and especially in the World Series when it matters most. If he doesn’t get going, the Tigers won’t have any chance of coming back from an 0-2 hole against a Giants team that’s doing just about everything right.

Avisail Garcia 

Garcia has been starting at right field for the Tigers in place of Andy Dirks in the World Series because he's been batting a lot against left-handers.

But so far in the Series, he hasn’t been batting well against left-handers. Garcia is 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in his first two starts of the Fall Classic.

He’s only been playing in the major leagues for a couple months; he was brought up from the minors in late August.

The rookie had a BA of .319 in the regular season and was hitting well in the Tigers’ series against the Yankees. But his production, or lack thereof, along with that of his teammates is not making winning an easy task for Detroit.

Justin Verlander 

While the pitching for the Giants has been key to their two wins in the World Series, Detroit’s pitching, particularly in Game 1, has been the team’s downfall.

Justin Verlander, last season’s Cy Young winner, only got through four innings on the mound in Game 1 before being replaced by reliever Al Alburquerque.

Verlander gave up five runs in those four innings, including two homers to Giant Pablo Sandoval.

Verlander went 17-8 with an ERA under three in the regular season. He struck out 25 batters in his previous three starts and had only given up two earned runs in the playoffs before facing the Giants. But he just didn’t have it in Game 1 of the World Series, and it cost the Tigers a win and some confidence heading into that Game 2 loss.

Verlander is expected to start Game 5 if the Tigers can avoid a sweep by the Giants. The Tigers and their fans can only hope that he puts on a better performance then than he did in Game 1.