Our 100th post on this blog takes us to Motown for the half-way point in our series. Today's team: the Detroit Tigers!
Detroit Tigers
Record: 81-81 (Third place in AL Central, 13 games behind Minnesota)
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Miguel Cabrera (.328)
Home Runs: Miguel Cabrera (38)
RBIs: Miguel Cabrera (126)
On-base Percentage: Miguel Cabrera (.420)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: Justin Verlander (18)
Strikeouts: Justin Verlander (219)
Innings Pitched: Justin Verlander (224.1)
ERA: Justin Verlander (3.37). Bullpen- Jose Valverde (3.00)
WHIP: Justin Verlander (1.16). Bullpen- Jose Valverde (1.16)
Saves: Jose Valverde (26)
Highlight of the Season: On June 2, Armando Galarraga retired 26 consecutive Indians before finally surrendering a hit to Jason Donald. He would complete the one-hit shutout though, winning 3-0 on just 88 pitches.
Lowlight of the Season: Unfortunately for Galarraga, the way he lost the perfect game was due to a blown call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce, as Jason Donald was clearly out at the bag. Joyce was very contrite after the game, apologizing to Galarraga for his blown call, which the pitcher took in stride.
The Lowdown:
Four years removed from their AL Pennant run, the Tigers looked to return to the postseason with a retooled roster that included two rookies as part of their regular lineup. Outfielders Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch were each plugged into the lineup not as fill-ins or platoon players, but as regular members of the everyday lineup, and both of them would live up to the challenge, as each player brought their own strengths to the team. Jackson would nearly take Rookie of the Year honors, hitting .293 with 27 steals and superb outfield defense, while Boesch showed a great capability to hit left-handed pitching, finishing with a batting average of .337 against southpaws.
Even though the Tigers hit well, their pitching (which was once one of their strengths) would ultimately be their downfall, as they received inconsistent performances behind number one starter Justin Verlander. Despite this, the team remained in contention until after the All-Star break, when the rug was finally pulled from underneath them, finishing with an unimpressive 13-16 record in August.
Offense:
The Tigers were among the best hitting teams in baseball in 2010, finishing 11th in runs scored (751), fifth in batting average (.268), 14th in home runs (152), eighth in on-base percentage (.335) and 11th in slugging (.415). They were led by one of the best hitters in the game, Miguel Cabrera, who placed himself in the discussion for AL MVP with his performance at the plate. Cabrera finished second in the American League in batting average at a clip of .328, while pounding 38 home runs and driving in a league-best 126. Surprisingly enough, despite the team-best batting average, he did not lead the team in hits, as rookie Austin Jackson stole the show with 181 of them this year. Jackson would also go on to lead the team in steals with 27, establishing himself as a capable lead-off hitter, and giving the Tigers’ lineup an extra dimension to it heading into 2011.
Even though the rest of the Tigers lineup featured either average or below average seasons from their hitters, this is a case of the whole simply being better than the sum of its parts.
Final Grade: B-
Pitching:
Collectively, the Tigers were below average pitching-wise, finishing 25th in ERA (4.30), 21st in “batting average against” (.262), 23rd in quality starts (79) and 20th in WHIP (1.37). Even though they were toward the bottom in many of the major pitching stats, they still featured one of the best arms in the game in Justin Verlander. He would finish with an 18-9 record, with a rock solid 219 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.37 in 224.1 innings, proving that in just his fifth big-league season, he is one of the best pitchers in baseball today.
Behind him, unfortunately was mostly mediocrity, as Jeremy Bonderman, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Armando Galarraga put up largely unimpressive numbers. Galarraga outside of his stellar performance on June 2, was mostly mediocre the rest of the way, finishing with a 4-9 record with a 4.49 ERA. Righty Rick Porcello unfortunately could not follow up on his spectacular rookie performance from last year, finishing 10-12 with a 4.92 ERA in 162.2 innings. Bonderman was uncharacteristically bad this year, finishing with a 5.53 ERA in 171 innings, and Scherzer, despite striking out an average of eight hitters for every nine innings pitched, was often the victim of bad luck, finishing 12-11.
The bullpen was fair in the Motor City this year, finishing 14th in baseball with a 3.96 ERA. Phil Coke would make the most appearances out of the ‘pen with 73, and he was mostly average, finishing with a 3.57 ERA and 17 holds. Closer Jose Valverde was pretty solid in finishing out games this year, recording an ERA of 3.00, along with 26 saves. Ryan Perry, Brad Thomas and Joel Zumaya were all solid out of the ‘pen this year as well.
While the bullpen was average, the starting rotation could be better. If anything, the inconsistency in the starting rotation kept the Tigers out of the postseason this year.
Final Grade: C-
Wild Card: Rookies
It’s not too often where you find a team that features two rookies in their everyday lineup that produced like the aforementioned Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch did this year. Even if a team did feature two rookies in their everyday lineup, they are usually on a very bad team, mostly because they cannot find anyone who can play the position any better. The Tigers however, not only featured two rookies who were legitimately good enough to be major leaguers, they were big contributors to a team who was in contention for at least half of the season.
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
A .500 season can mean different things for different teams. For one team, .500 can be a sign of progress, while for another, it can be a sign of underachievement. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the latter would ring true.
Final Grade: C
Check back soon for the report card on the Oakland Athletics!
Detroit Tigers
Record: 81-81 (Third place in AL Central, 13 games behind Minnesota)
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Miguel Cabrera (.328)
Home Runs: Miguel Cabrera (38)
RBIs: Miguel Cabrera (126)
On-base Percentage: Miguel Cabrera (.420)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: Justin Verlander (18)
Strikeouts: Justin Verlander (219)
Innings Pitched: Justin Verlander (224.1)
ERA: Justin Verlander (3.37). Bullpen- Jose Valverde (3.00)
WHIP: Justin Verlander (1.16). Bullpen- Jose Valverde (1.16)
Saves: Jose Valverde (26)
Highlight of the Season: On June 2, Armando Galarraga retired 26 consecutive Indians before finally surrendering a hit to Jason Donald. He would complete the one-hit shutout though, winning 3-0 on just 88 pitches.
Lowlight of the Season: Unfortunately for Galarraga, the way he lost the perfect game was due to a blown call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce, as Jason Donald was clearly out at the bag. Joyce was very contrite after the game, apologizing to Galarraga for his blown call, which the pitcher took in stride.
The Lowdown:
Four years removed from their AL Pennant run, the Tigers looked to return to the postseason with a retooled roster that included two rookies as part of their regular lineup. Outfielders Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch were each plugged into the lineup not as fill-ins or platoon players, but as regular members of the everyday lineup, and both of them would live up to the challenge, as each player brought their own strengths to the team. Jackson would nearly take Rookie of the Year honors, hitting .293 with 27 steals and superb outfield defense, while Boesch showed a great capability to hit left-handed pitching, finishing with a batting average of .337 against southpaws.
Even though the Tigers hit well, their pitching (which was once one of their strengths) would ultimately be their downfall, as they received inconsistent performances behind number one starter Justin Verlander. Despite this, the team remained in contention until after the All-Star break, when the rug was finally pulled from underneath them, finishing with an unimpressive 13-16 record in August.
Offense:
The Tigers were among the best hitting teams in baseball in 2010, finishing 11th in runs scored (751), fifth in batting average (.268), 14th in home runs (152), eighth in on-base percentage (.335) and 11th in slugging (.415). They were led by one of the best hitters in the game, Miguel Cabrera, who placed himself in the discussion for AL MVP with his performance at the plate. Cabrera finished second in the American League in batting average at a clip of .328, while pounding 38 home runs and driving in a league-best 126. Surprisingly enough, despite the team-best batting average, he did not lead the team in hits, as rookie Austin Jackson stole the show with 181 of them this year. Jackson would also go on to lead the team in steals with 27, establishing himself as a capable lead-off hitter, and giving the Tigers’ lineup an extra dimension to it heading into 2011.
Even though the rest of the Tigers lineup featured either average or below average seasons from their hitters, this is a case of the whole simply being better than the sum of its parts.
Final Grade: B-
Pitching:
Collectively, the Tigers were below average pitching-wise, finishing 25th in ERA (4.30), 21st in “batting average against” (.262), 23rd in quality starts (79) and 20th in WHIP (1.37). Even though they were toward the bottom in many of the major pitching stats, they still featured one of the best arms in the game in Justin Verlander. He would finish with an 18-9 record, with a rock solid 219 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.37 in 224.1 innings, proving that in just his fifth big-league season, he is one of the best pitchers in baseball today.
Behind him, unfortunately was mostly mediocrity, as Jeremy Bonderman, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Armando Galarraga put up largely unimpressive numbers. Galarraga outside of his stellar performance on June 2, was mostly mediocre the rest of the way, finishing with a 4-9 record with a 4.49 ERA. Righty Rick Porcello unfortunately could not follow up on his spectacular rookie performance from last year, finishing 10-12 with a 4.92 ERA in 162.2 innings. Bonderman was uncharacteristically bad this year, finishing with a 5.53 ERA in 171 innings, and Scherzer, despite striking out an average of eight hitters for every nine innings pitched, was often the victim of bad luck, finishing 12-11.
The bullpen was fair in the Motor City this year, finishing 14th in baseball with a 3.96 ERA. Phil Coke would make the most appearances out of the ‘pen with 73, and he was mostly average, finishing with a 3.57 ERA and 17 holds. Closer Jose Valverde was pretty solid in finishing out games this year, recording an ERA of 3.00, along with 26 saves. Ryan Perry, Brad Thomas and Joel Zumaya were all solid out of the ‘pen this year as well.
While the bullpen was average, the starting rotation could be better. If anything, the inconsistency in the starting rotation kept the Tigers out of the postseason this year.
Final Grade: C-
Wild Card: Rookies
It’s not too often where you find a team that features two rookies in their everyday lineup that produced like the aforementioned Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch did this year. Even if a team did feature two rookies in their everyday lineup, they are usually on a very bad team, mostly because they cannot find anyone who can play the position any better. The Tigers however, not only featured two rookies who were legitimately good enough to be major leaguers, they were big contributors to a team who was in contention for at least half of the season.
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
A .500 season can mean different things for different teams. For one team, .500 can be a sign of progress, while for another, it can be a sign of underachievement. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the latter would ring true.
Final Grade: C
Check back soon for the report card on the Oakland Athletics!
I've got to disagree about the lowlight of the season. The Galarraga incident at least led to some positive press for both Joyce and Armando. As a Tigers fan the lowlight of the season was losing the division lead on the final day before the all star break, then coming out of the break and getting swept by the lowly Indians in 4 games and losing the first two games of a series against the Rangers. The Tigers went from being a half a game up in the division on July 10, to being 3 1/2 back just 10 days later. They would finish July 4-13 after the break, and were never in contention again.
ReplyDeleteWhew, that's rough. I forgot about that completely.
ReplyDelete