Is the Motor Back? Five Detroit Tigers That Need to Step Up
This season hasn't gone exactly according to plan thus far.
A team that broke camp with perhaps the most talented roster in the Jim Leyland/Dave Dombrowski era was supposed to hit the ground running and by now they should have been pushing Chicago and Minnesota for AL Central supremacy.
But, as the standings will show, there are no guarantees in baseball.
If I were to tell you a month ago that the Tigers would be squarely in front of both of those teams yet fans would be disappointed thus far, you would have looked at me like I had two extra heads coming out of my neck.
The Twins and White Sox are struggling to say the least, and the surprising Cleveland Indians are one of the top teams in baseball.
However, we are just over a month into the season and you know that those trends will not stay. Cleveland will not continue to pitch the way they are now, and the Twins and Sox will almost certainly wake up.
But that shouldn't matter for Detroit. This team is talented enough that they should control their own destiny.
That being said, there are a number of players that need to take a serious step forward if this team is going to put together a serious run and fulfill their promise.
Here are a few of those players.
5. Rick Porcello
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Rick Porcello is one of the most talented young pitchers in the game.
However, he isn't one of the traditional Dombrowski arms. He doesn't hit 100 mph and he doesn't rely on a big breaking curve.
What he does when effective is induce ground balls and locate his solid fastball.
In the first two starts of his season, he did not do that, and looked like the pitcher he was for much of last year. He got lit up for five runs in each of those games and the fans started bracing for the worst.
But since then, he has looked like the pitcher he was as a rookie, getting four straight quality starts and dropping his ERA below four.
The Tigers have two starters they can depend on in Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer and a veteran in Brad Penny that appears to be rounding into his old All Star form.
But they also have another starter in Phil Coke that has yet to become a consistent starter.
This brings up Porcello. In a lot of ways, he is the linchpin of this rotation. If he is having a good week, chances are the Tigers are too.
Porcello needs to continue what he did over the last two weeks. The Tigers can weather a slightly inconsistent Penny and the question mark that is Coke if Porcello continues to pitch like he did as a rookie.
If he takes a step back, so too will the Tigers.
4. Austin Jackson
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In a lineup of frustrating performances thus far, Jackson may be the most stupefying. Sure, most thought he would be slightly less effective than his amazing rookie year.
But so far, Jackson has looked completely lost.
His leg kick has been out of rhythm, he isn't taking enough pitches, and he is striking out way too often.
For a lead off hitter, this dooms a lineup like few other things can.
Miguel Cabrera will continue to hit. That's just a given. But he needs to get to the plate with people on base in order to be effective. Jackson is perhaps the most important player for Cabrera.
If Jackson can get on base, and perhaps stretch the pitcher to at least 6 pitches, he will likely assure that Cabrera will reach the dish in the first inning, and will force the pitcher to throw to him (especially if Victor Martinez is hitting).
Sure, the second and third hitters need to do their job as well. But Jackson's job is far more important.
The good news is that Jackson had a great weekend in Toronto and is primed to break out of his slump.
But if he regresses, Andy Dirks is tearing the cover off the ball in Toledo and is only a call away.
3. Ryan Raburn
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Will the real Ryan Raburn please stand up?
Over the course of the last two years, we have gotten two different Raburns.
One is capable of breaking a ball game open with his bat, whether it be a double to the gap or a homer to left. He has an explosive bat and a sweet swing.
The other Raburn looks a little more like Brandon Inge. He seems to ground out at the worst possible time, he swings at bad pitches, and he gets fooled way too often late in the count.
Raburn needs to show a lot more patience, especially if he gets more time hitting third. But even if he isn't hitting in the top half of the lineup, he needs to play better team ball. Martinez is on first and there are no outs? Don't strike out. Get him over to second so that the next guy can bat him home. Jackson is on second with one out and Cabrera is hitting behind you? Make the pitcher throw you your pitch and force his hand.
Raburn may not be more than a journeyman that Leyland is way too infatuated with. Or he may be a diamond in the rough that is primed for a break out year.
Regardless, choose one and run with it. You don't have to hit a homer everytime Ryan. Sometimes you just need to win the at bat.
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2. Brandon Inge
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I have to admit, I might not be the best person to offer criticism to Brandon Inge.
I have been an adament critic of the enigmatic third baseman.
However, I do love this franchise, and in order for this team to reach their potential, they will need better hitting from the left side of their infield.
Jhonny Peralta has been pretty much what we thought he would be. He will hit you 15 or so homers, 75 RBI's and an average around .270. That is just fine by me, especially considering how bad that position has been over the years since Alan Trammell (I don't even want to think about Adam Everett).
But Inge has been horrendous. His power is non-existant (one homer), his on base percentage is anaemic (.264), and even his fielding has been sub par.
Inge needs to step up like nobody's business.
Personally, I think this comes down to a simple decision. Inge needs to change his approach. He no longer is a 25 home run guy. It just won't happen. Instead, he needs to shorten his swing and become a .270 batting average guy. Set the table, don't clear it.
If Inge can stick with playing sound defense and become a guy that gets on base 35 percent of the time, Detroit should be in good shape. Especially if Alex Avila continues to drive the ball from the bottom half of the order.
Inge needs to follow Peralta's lead and just keep innings going instead of trying to break the game open.
He is putting way too much pressure on himself, and that is hurting the team and his defense.
1. Joaquin Benoit
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Of all the story lines thus far, is anything more horrifying than Joaquin Benoit's terrible week? Did you know that he already has given up more runs this year than he did last year?
Okay, nobody thought that Benoit would be as effective this year as he was last year. It just isn't rational. But he wasn't supposed to be the second coming of Brandon Lyon either.
Benoit has a simple job that he is paid handsomely for. He takes the ball in the eighth inning and keeps it warm for Jose Valverde in the ninth. That's it. Just keep the lead for one inning.
Instead, Benoit has been wild, erratic and a little shaken to boot. Sure, that may be a nice feature for a martini, but not a set up man.
Leyland decided to give Benoit a couple games off to clear his head. This is probably the right move.
But what if he continues to struggle? One thing Detroit can not have is a shaky set up man.
Chances are, this was a two-game aberration and he will bounce back. He has sick stuff, and his fastball still has quite a bit of velocity and movement.
However, if he continues to struggle, look for him to get demoted to middle relief and look for Phil Coke to find his way back to the back end of the bullpen. Coke has struggled, and coupled with Charlie Furbush's emergence as well as Andy Oliver, Detroit may make a move sooner rather than later.
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