~The only way the Tigers fail~
-By Mike Moore-
Okay, let’s begin this by reiterating the fact that it’s still Spring Training.
While the lot of us are checking the weather report almost as much as we check our brackets (c’mon UConn!) to see how much snow we can plan on digging out of tomorrow, Major League Baseball is still entrenched in the longest, and quite possibly dullest preseason of any of the major sports.Wins and losses (and ties) come and go. Teams play half their guys some days, the other half the next or simply split the entire team up to play twice in one day.
So, with the greatest team ever assembled, or, as the rest of the world is calling them, the Detroit Tigers sitting with just an 11-12-2 record as of Good Friday, a simply shrug is sufficient. After all, the Tampa Bay Rays were a Major League best 16-5.Where the concern is understood, and somewhat deserving, however, is how the Tigers have lost some of those 12 games, or, more specifically, who’s lost them.
It’d be a slight stretch, if one at all, to say the bullpen’s ineptitude cost Detroit a shot at the playoffs last season. Too many injuries. Too many mistakes. Too many blown chances.Now, a lineup missing a weakness is going to score some runs and a starting rotation with three legitimate 20-game winners is going to keep teams down. The question quickly shifts to whether or not the bullpen can hold court. And, through 24 preseason games, that answer is, well, as much a mystery as Kym Worthy’s decision on Kwame.
Start at the top and look at Todd Jones. A crafty veteran who keeps you on the edge of your seat has a spring training ERA of 11.42, a number that will leave many Tigers’ fans on the edge of the nearest cliff. He’s 0-for-1 in the save department and allowed 11 earned runs in eight innings worked.It doesn’t get much better after that for the rest of the expected bullpen either – Tim Byrdak (10.00), Macay McBride (7.20), Zach Miner (4.61). So far so good for Jason Grilli who had a team-best 3.38 ERA for the usual relievers.
Of course, prospects will improve, if and when Fernando Rodney returns to full strength and Joel Zumaya puts down Guitar Hero and moving boxes. Still, the concern is a legitimate one.
The Yankees of years past have proved time and time again, a lineup loaded with talent (and other things) will only push a team so far. Last year’s world champion Red Sox had arguably the best pitching staff from top to bottom, and many projections this season, such as the Sporting News, have Cleveland finishing ahead of Detroit in the Central Division due to the strength, and lack there of, in the pitching staff.
The trades to bring in Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Jacque Jones and Edgar Renteria were highly celebrated, for good reason. It should make for an atmosphere downtown many of us have never known, and others will compare to the mid-80’s.
Unfortunately, that atmosphere and subsequent expectations, (World Series title?) if left unfilled, will give way to a disappointment many refuse to believe even has the chance of appearing.
It’d be a shame too. The summer of ’08 could be something spectacular in Detroit, as long as the Fall isn’t equally unspectacular.
Send questions or comments to mjm12@albion.edu
