Tiger Hitters Slumping

A day before the final cuts heading into the last 4 games of Spring Training and the Tigers have been hitting against big league roster starting pitchers for the last 10 days.  One troubling sign heading into the regular season are several players on the hitters list trending in the wrong direction.  Getting worse.  On the other hand there are a couple getting better.  Lefty Brennan Boesch appears to be finding his swing heading into the regular season, as is Miguel Cabrerra. (See Hitter Trends page.)

Ryan Raburn slumping.

In the "concern" category are some of the starting hitters who just seem to be hitting a bad patch heading into the last week of Spring Training.  Ryan Rayburn has gone 6 for 25 (.240) over the last 6 Spring games as a hitter.  Austin Jackson has had difficulties over the last 9 games hitting only 4 for 26 (.154) during his slump.  These numbers are particularly troubling since the last few days of Spring Training the Tigers have been facing the top starting regular season pitchers on the opposing teams.  Let's hope these "slumping" Tigers find their respective grooves in the last 4 Spring games and start hitting regular-season pitching before the season starts next week.  Even newcomer Andy Dirks has had his hitting trail off after his phenomenal start, hitting only 5 for 25 or .200 since March 13th, leading us to wonder if he can hit the big-leagers.  Look for him to get some more chances IF he makes the cut, which doesn't look likely based on his last 2 weeks of hitting. (See Hitter Trends and Spring Training pages.)

Speaking of making the cut, Danny Worth has done nothing but HIT over a similar time span showing that he certainly CAN hit regular-season pitchers.  He has had 17 at-bats since March 13th getting 9 hits for a .529 average.  Let's hope the Tigers decide to hold on to an extra infielder and Worth gets his shot at the big leagues.  He certainly is a versatile utility infielder playing 3rd, Short, and 2nd.  He's lost the 2nd base job to Rhymes, but he's certainly earned a chance to make the team.

The Tigers have 3 players left to cut.  One will be a pitcher (probably Enrique Gonzalez).  Two will (or should be) outfielders now that Magglio Ordonez has shown he is healthy.  So look for Dirks (unfortunately) and Casper Wells to be cut.  Although if the Tigers do NOT keep Worth, Casper Wells will make the team.  (He's hit .300 this Spring, and gotten 7 hits over his 21 most recent at-bats.)

Watch the team closely in the next few days, because now we'll see what we have for the regular season.  Wednesday will be the final Spring Training summary.  Next weekend will be the first post of the regular season.  Look for new pages and new charts!


GO TIGERS!    ---Rob



Photo by Robin Buckson - Detroit News