Talkin’ Tigers

So things are not going quite the way we expected them to for the AL Central race.  Most Tigers fans would have loved to seen this race sewn up weeks ago; but alas, this is not the case.  We hold a 2 game lead over the Evil Empire (Twinkies) for the AL Central Crown with 3 games left in the season.  Hopes are high in the Motor City – but fear is too.

A few questions were posed to me earlier today and I thought for once instead of a personal reflection piece – I would get down and dirty and talk actual baseball. Yes, I can… and I will…

The Tigers have a lot of faults this season, but they also have a few strengths mixed among them.  Most notably their starting pitching.  Justin Verlander has been lights out this season and has proven not only to the front office but to the fans as well, that he truly is the ace of the staff.  This is a breath of fresh air considering the season he had last year… 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA.  A far cry from his current 18-9 3.45 ERA.  Justin has been lights out – scary dominant when he hits the mound at game time.  Hopefully we can keep this rolling into the post season (fingers crossed).  Championships are won with stellar starting pitching and strong defense.  The Tigers have excelled in both of these areas this season.

On the flip side of this, my biggest fear for the post season is that the season long struggling offense will continue.  The Tigers get hits, they just get little clusters of them and none of them in clutch situations for runs.  It’s feast or famine for the kitties… we win games 12-2 or we loose them 9-1.  If one bat is hot, the others follow suit, but getting that one bat going seems to have been a season long challenge.  Most recently the bats of Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez have come around and have been productive.  It couldn’t have come at a better time with the post season less than 6 days away.

Post season rosters will be set soon, and I sure do think it would be a shame if Ramon Santiago was left off.  He is a great middle infielder who can sub superbly for Polanco at 2nd or Everett at SS.  He offers the team flexibility and the ability to give some veterans a little bit of a breather. I think the odds of him being left off the post season roster are slim, but I have seen stranger things happen.  On the flip side to this, I would be surprised to see Armando Galarraga’s name on the post season roster.  He was a stable corner in the starting rotation last year, but this has been a year of ups and downs for Armando.  His command was not there this year.  Due to a sore pitching elbow, he hasn’t toted the rubber since late August although still appearing on the 40 man roster.

All in all, I think the Tigers have an excellent chance of making it to the World Series.  If they make it to the dance, their first opponents will be the yankees… ugh, the yankees.  I like to keep alive the memory of the rousting the Tigers gave the yankees in 2006 in the ALDS.  But a few things have to fall in line.  First of all, defensively Verlander has to stay the ace.  If his performance falters in the post season, the team will crumble around him.  On the offense, Miguel Cabrera has to stay the steady  and intimidating opposing stick (.329 for the season).  His bat picks up other bats like Ordonez, Guillen, Polanco and Inge.

I think the heat that the Tigers faced with the Twins will help them in the post season.  For the Tigers, the post season started 3 weeks ago.  It has been an up and down struggle for the month of September and by feeling the heat then, the Tigers are primed and ready for the post season.  In 2006 the Tigers had over a week of lay off time between the ALCS and the World Series.  Some will say that this hurt them, I tend to agree.  Being that they have had to fight and claw their way into the post season, they are warmed up and primed to push forward, win Detroit a Division, League and World Series Title.

Detroit citizens need it, they deserve it, and the Tigers want to give it to them. I couldn’t think of a better situation or position to be in.