MLB Fastball 04.06.08: Wakeup Call For Detroit

Posted by Neil Borenstein on 04.06.2008

The Tigers took part in one of the biggest trades of the offseason and have increased their payroll to $138 million. But that hasn’t helped them from going 0-5 to start the season, including an opening series sweep to the Kansas City Royals. In this edition of MLB Fastball, Neil Borenstein examines the Tigers' poor start, as well as some other observations from the first week of the 2008 MLB season.

Tigers Off To Worst Start Since 2003Five Straight Losses Wakeup Call For Detroit

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports/Getty ImagesThe Tigers' additions of Dontrelle Willis (l) and Miguel Cabrera (r) have not prevented them from starting the season 0-5.

An opening series sweep to one of the worst teams in baseball and remaining winless through five games is hardly the way the Detroit Tigers expected to open the 2008 season. A team favored by many to take the AL Central crown, or at least fight tooth and nail with the Cleveland Indians for it through the year, the Tigers have posted their worst record to open a season since 2003 – the year they went on for a team and American League record 119 losses. With the roster they possess and $138 million being paid out to that roster, there were higher hopes for this team coming out the gate.

It's entirely too early to hit the panic button with 157 games remaining in a very long MLB season. But it's never too early for a wakeup call. And Jim Leyland and his boys are receiving one just five games in. It's time to start living up to the hype.

The Tigers have been shooting themselves in the foot by blowing leads, leaving runners on base and simply not putting up enough offense against teams that they shouldn't have a problem with. They've only dealt with two opponents. But the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox should not be causing this kind of heartache for a Tigers team that's stacked at virtually all positions.

The Saturday matinee between the Tigers and White Sox is probably the biggest indicator that things just aren't working in Detroit's favor right now. With Dontrelle Willis on the mound, the Tigers entered the sixth inning with a no-hitter and a 3-0 lead on the board. By the end of the inning, the White Sox were up 4-3 and Willis was out of the game. It's somewhat reminiscent of how they started the season against the Royals. The Tigers held a 3-0 lead until Kansas City grabbed a 4-3 lead with two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings. Detroit tied the game in the eighth, but Tony Pena, Jr. singled home John Buck for the 5-4 victory in 11 innings.

The Tigers also struggled against Kansas City in the second and third games of the series by scoring a grand total of one run. On Wednesday, they were held to three hits and shut out in the run department by Brian Bannister. Zack Greinke took the mound for the Royals the next night and he, along with relievers Ramón Ramírez and Joakim Soria, only gave up one run on eight hits to the Tigers.

There really isn't any excuse for the Tigers to start the season in this fashion. They have a top-notch starting rotation: Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bondermon, Kenny Rogers, Nate Robertson and Willis. They might be missing some bats due to injury – Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield, but the Tigers still possess one of the strongest lineups in the league with players such as Plácido Polanco, Carlos Guillén, Magglio Ordóñez, Miguel Cabrera, Édgar Rentería, Iván Rodríguez and Brandon Inge stepping up to the plate. The Tigers bullpen is not too healthy, with Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney on the disabled list. But that has hardly been their area of dilemma this year.

There is simply too much talent in Detroit for these kinds of results. To improve, they need to work their runners home instead of leaving so many on base and actually protect leads with controlled and consistent pitching and team defense. Otherwise, the Tigers are going to continue to suffer losses to teams they should have little difficulty beating.


Observations of 2008 opening week …

• Holy hell, what is the matter with Barry Zito? Could he at least pretend he knows he's making $18 million a year? I legitimately want to give this guy a chance because I still think he has the ability to be an ace for the San Francisco Giants. But he had a pretty bad year last season after signing his monster contract. And he's already off to a poor start this season after giving up four runs in five innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Granted, he had no offensive support in the 5-0 loss. But it doesn't help his cause that he gave up a homer and struck out only one batter. There really aren't high expectations for the Giants this season, and rightfully so. They have basically no offense to speak of in this new Barry Bonds-less era. But to defy the odds, the Giants will need top-notch pitching to compensate for their lackluster offense. With Zito playing the way he has for the past year and a start, that's just not going to happen.



• So the AL East is kind of backwards to start the season. The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays are tied for first. The Toronto Blue Jays are third. The Boston Red Sox are fourth. And dead last are the New York Yankees. Hmmm … That's not how this was supposed to go. It's only a matter of time before this division reverses itself. But just as surprising as it is for the Tigers to begin this year 0-5, it's equally surprising to see the Orioles go 3-1. And even though they didn't get to do it against their former ace Erik Bedard, the Orioles were able to take the first two matchups against the Seattle Mariners. As far as the Rays are concerned, it's going to be a fun season. They've taken two impressive games against the Yankees and look poised to make a little noise this year.



• The New York Mets are cashing in on the Johan Santana trade. In his first start with his new club, Santana pitched a gem of a game. He tossed seven innings of three-hit, two-run ball with eight strikeouts against the Florida Marlins. I'm not going to call this guy a 20-game winner this season like some FOX analysts want to jump to. It was only one game after all. But that one start showed that Santana is having little trouble transitioning to a new ball club. The rest of the rotation is a bit bruised, with Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez on the shelf. But Oliver Pérez has a tremendous start against the Marlins on Wednesday, going six innings with zero runs against and eight Ks. If John Maine can rebound from his rough outing against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday afternoon and Mike Pelfrey turns into a pitcher that can go at least six innings and give up three-four runs, this rotation should be fine. They'll just need to find some substitute arms until Pedro comes back in four to six weeks, and then hope he can avoid hitting the disabled list for a while.



• Is anybody even remotely surprised that Mike Hampton, Rocco Baldelli and Eric Chavez are already on the disabled list? In fact, they were placed there prior to the start of the season. There are just some players that can't get rid of the injury bug. And these players fit into that category. I don't think their respective teams really need them. Atlanta has dealt with Hampton being out of the lineup for years, the Athletics have learned to depend less and less on the diminishing skills Chavez and the Rays are starting to build a roster good enough to forget Baldelli is even on the team. There would probably be something very wrong if these guys actually began the year completely healthy.

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Until next time!

~ Neil Borenstein