Ok Tigers fans, I think we can all agree that we all expected more out of the team at this point in the season but with some players not putting up their normal numbers and injuries have left this team under-performing. With that being said, should we just chalk the season as another disaster or is there still hope?
When I consider questions like this I like to take a step back and look at the larger picture. Let’s take a look at the division as a whole. I think when the season started we all thought the White Sox were going to run away with things but as we have seen the White Sox themselves have been rather bland as well. One of the biggest shockers to this point in the season is the success the Twins have had. They made a big free agent splash with the signing of Carlos Correa but I don’t think most fans thought they would be leading the division. As far as the rest of the division, I think the Tigers are right on par with them right now. So all in all I don’t think that we can crown a division as of yet which is good news to any Tigers fan.
So now let’s chat about the Tigers themselves. Yes they have not performed as well as anyone had thought. Yes they have been injured…injured a TON! They have been without Casey Mize and Riley Green this whole season and their overall pitching staff has been decimated with injuries. Edwardo Rodriguez, Michael Pineda, Matt Manning, and Tyler Alexander have all been on the shelf for a long time to start the season as well as Mize. The position players have also been hit with Riley Green, Robbie Grossman, Austin Meadows, and even Javy Baez have all been on the injured list. So all in all, it is almost an entire team on the injured list at the same time which is horrible news…the good news is that most of these guys are on track to come back in the next month. I am positive all Tigers fans have been yearning to see Green make his long awaited debut and they are looking to get some return in the big free agent splashes that they made in the offseason.
So let’s project going forward. They just called up Kody Clemens up to the big team to hopefully add some much needed pop to the line-up and to be honest, the team hasn’t played badly with the squad that AJ Hinch has had available. They have kept the ship going in the right direction, not full steam ahead, but in the right direction. With the crew on the IL getting ready to come back I am excited to see this squad at full strength but let’s put things in perspective. It is a positive thing that the division is rather weak and the Tigers can get a lot of wins against the teams within the division but it is a negative in that in my opinion, to make the playoffs the Tigers will have to win the division. The Wild Cards are going to come from other better division but the question I asked is can they make some noise? ABSOLUTELY! I am still an optimist fan and they will take another step in the right direction after getting the journey started the final part of last season.
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