Tiger Observations

For those of you who are Tigers fans, it’s been a good week.  It’s been a long time since you started off 5-1.  It’s even more impressive when you consider that those 5 wins were all on the road and ¼ of your 2003 road win total of 20.  I have to say, they’ve been impressive so far.  Even the loss today was respectable.

But before anyone gets too excited, there are a few things you want to keep in mind:

1. It wasn’t like the Tigers were beating top level teams.  The Royals are not a good team, and Texas pitching still sucks.


2. The 17 home runs is an impressive total so far, but you will not hit 459 this year.  You would be doing very well to hit half of that.  Where are the runs going to come from when balls stop flying over fences?


3. The Tigers still aren’t drawing enough walks (13 in six games).  That needs to improve, as you won’t keep hitting .308 as a team once you get to some better teams.


4. Granderson is not a leadoff hitter.  He’s not selective enough at the plate.  He had a better day on Sunday, but I don’t think he’s ready for that.

Now that I’ve tempered your excitement, here are the good things I see:

1. Chris Shelton.  Sure, he won’t keep hitting .583 with 5 home runs every week.  But I liked watching him hit last year, and he certainly jumped out of the gate strong.  He could hit .300 with 25+ home runs if he stays healthy.


2. Pitching:  I liked what I saw of Bonderman, Verlander, and Zumaya.  While the Royals aren’t great, Texas still has a decent offense, and they managed to keep them quiet this weekend.


3. Pudge has two walks already.  This leads me to believe he’ll end up with more than 11 this year.

The next mission for Detroit is to win 3 or 4 of the next 7 games (3 vs. Chicago, 4 vs. Cleveland, all at home).  The intensity needs to stay up for the first TOUGH road trip (@ Oakland, @ Seattle, @ Anaheim).  The goal for this season should be 82 wins.  If the Tigers can come out of that road trip still a game or 2 over .500 (they’re 4 over right now), it’s an excellent first step.