We heard about it all off-season, with the acquisition of both Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis this winter, the AL Central automatically became the Tigers division to lose. Everybody, including myself, looked past the possible problems in the bullpen because they figured the Tigers were going to be scoring 35 runs a game anyway.Needless to say, things haven't been going as planned so far in Detroit.
Cabrera signed his $153 million deal a few weeks ago, and Willis got a 3-year $29 million deal back in December, with both contracts going a long way in giving Detroit the second highest payroll in the Major Leagues. Neither contract is paying off as of yet.
Cabrera is only hitting .111 with a homer and an RBI after his first week as a Tiger, and though Dontrelle Willis had a no-hitter going against the White Sox for five innings, he also walked seven batters. Of course, these are just two of the many problems the Tigers are experiencing right now.
Miguel Cabrera isn't the only Tiger struggling at the dish, as the Tigers are hitting .245 so far and have managed only 15 runs in 6 games. Not exactly the 35 runs a game output we were all expecting. Also, while the bullpen was supposed to be the team's big weakness, the starting pitching hasn't exactly been anything to write home about either.
In their first six games, Tigers starters have only pitched 34 innings, and have allowed 22 earned runs for a sparkling ERA of 5.83.
Still, looking at this roster there's just no way that this kind of production can continue all season. Going winless in their first six games wasn't in the plans, but there's still 156 games left to go for the Tigers, and something tells me they'll get their act together sooner rather than later. Though with a road trip through Boston and Chicago in the immediate future, it's not going to be easy.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-07-2008 @ 3:01PM
Ron Mayo said...
Dave's receipt is in his pocket. For me, the big concern is the entire pitching staff, period. Right now though, it is way too early to be too concerned. If, after the quarter pole, the Tigers are 10 and 30, then I'll be concerned.
Somewhere around 20 wins would be a plus at 40 games into the season. Time will tell but pitching is key.
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4-07-2008 @ 3:04PM
Ariel Martinez said...
It's a week into the season and you want your money back already. I dont think Cabrera will be hitting .111 for long. Do you even follow baseball?
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4-07-2008 @ 7:27PM
Fornelli said...
Ariel,
You may want to re-read the last paragraph of this post.
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