Speaking of pitching... So far the Tigers starters have been disappointing through the first 9 games. Brad Penny has barely made it out of the 5th inning in both of his games, Porcello could not make it through 5 in either of his starts, and Scherzer struggled in his first game. Only Verlander and Coke have pitched into the 7th inning. It could be a long April if this keeps up because the 6th and 7th inning relievers leave a lot to be desired. Long relievers Enrique Gonzalez on the right side and Brad Thomas on the left have given up 9 hits and 3 walks in 5 combined innings...and together they have given up 8 runs over those 5 innings. Definitely not what you want from the guys who need to keep the score where it started when they were handed the ball.
So look for a change to come if Porcello and/or Penny struggle in their next outing. They are both trending in the wrong direction (see PitchingTrends) and one of them will have to get it together or find himself down in Toledo working on his stuff. Thomas and Gonzalez are probably here to stay unfortunately, unless one of them totally implodes the next time they come into the game in the 6th inning. We have good arms in Toledo who can fill in should one of these two need replacing. Right now the Tigers Pitching staff is second only to Minnesota and Boston whose staffs are having an even harder time in April.. otherwise the Tigers would have the distinction of the worst pitching in the American League!
You can't win without hitting...and in the last series the bats were silent for much of each game with 15 of 16 scoreless innings against Kansas City until breaking out late in game 3. As predicted Austin Jackson continues to struggle with his batting average hovering just below .200, and so go the Tigers. Don't be surprised to see him sit out a game or two against the good Texas pitching. Another development is the hitting and fielding slump Ryan Raburn finds himself in. (see HitterTrends) Raburn's batting average has dropped from a high of .364 on April 6th to his current April 10th average of .227 (see RegularSeason2011). In that time period he has also made 2 costly errors. April is definitely raining on Raburn.
On the positive side there are some surprises. First and foremost of which is Jhonny Peralta! He is on a hitting streak hitting 6 of 11 against Kansas City bringing his average from .278 to .379! The other surprise is Alex Avila. Avila has hit 3 home runs in his last 4 games and currently averages .280 (see RegularSeason2011).
So that's it for this week. Be sure to check the numbers yourself on the Regular Season 2011, Pitcher Trends, and Hitter Trends pages.
GO TIGERS! ---Rob
Photo Credits:
Jhonny Peralta Photo by John T. Greilick - Detroit News
Win 1 - Lose 2 approach = 54 wins and 108 losses.
ReplyDeleteThis had better change QUICKLY!
Agreed on Peralta being a nice surprise.
Thomas and Gonzalez both BLOW!
The starters (other than JV) are right behind them.