"..Just Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again!"

Last week I predicted Tiger pitching would get them 4 wins of 6 on the road.  I was wrong.  Instead they won 5 of 6!  Finishing with a 2-game sweep of Minnesota on Wednesday.  As predicted the Tigers started the series at home against Kansas City tied for 2nd in the division with them.  After winning the first 2 games against KC they now have another series win for three series wins in a row, 7 straight wins, and have won 10 of their last 11 games!  No other team in the Major Leagues has performed as well over the last 11 games.

The Kansas City series started a stretch of 20 games in a row for the Tigers without a day off until June 2nd.  Next up are 2 against Toronto at home then on the road to Boston for 2 and Pittsburgh for the weekend series.  The Tigers will be tested when the Tampa Bay Rays come to Comerica Park after the Pittsburgh series and then again when they host the Red Sox at Comerica followed by Minnesota for the last two series of May.  By the end of May it should be clear what kind of team the Tigers have.

The questions are:  Can the streak continue?  How are they doing it?  Upside?  Downside to the streak?  How's the pitching?  Hitting?

How are they doing it?  The short answer is.. Victor Martinez.. and starting pitching.

Brad Penny getting stronger.

Starting pitching is definitely the "upside" to the current winning streak.  The starters have been getting leads from the hitters and going deep in games, letting the somewhat suspect middle relief stay on the bench.  Justin Verlander has gotten even better this year.  Brad Penny has improved every outing and only seems to be getting stronger forcing hitters into ground outs at a rate of 3 ground outs for each fly ball out (See GO/AO in Season Stats).   Rick Porcello is doing much the same and Max Scherzer is winning games even though he still struggles with control on occasion.  The weakest link is Phil Coke, but Coke has battled through some tough outings recently as he still works on acclimating to starting pitching.  The starting 5 have a lot to do with the recent string of wins, but they've been getting some hitting too.

The Tiger hitters have been on fire the last 7 games.  Austin Jackson has finally found his stride with a several game hitting streak going.   Scott Sizemore behind Jackson struggles with right-handed pitching but is finding a way to draw walks from right-handers and make left-handers pay with his bat.

Victor Martinez on hitting streak.

Although Miguel Cabrerra has faced some difficulties in the last 2 weeks striking out more and having opposing managers walk him, Victor Martinez is making them pay.  Victor has a 13 game hitting streak going which is making opposing managers regret when they pitch around Miguel.  He has been getting hits even when Cabrerra isn't, keeping innings alive and letting the bottom half of the batting order get into the fun...

Peralta matching Martinez in hitting

Keeping pace with Victor further down in the order is Jhonny Peralta.  When Victor gets on Jhonny has been driving him home.  See the "Hitting Trends" chart for what looks to be a competition between Jhonny and Victor for who can hit the best in May!  Jhonny has hit .441 in the last 10 games and Victor .459!

Yes, if the Tigers keep hitting and pitching the way they are, they are going to be tough to beat.  So is there a downside?   Concerns?

On the hitting side of things an area of concern is the continued slide that Brennan Boesch has been on over the last 9 days (See Hitting Trends).  Brennan has been inconsistent hitting in the #3 spot.  Magglio Ordonez had been struggling so much in the same spot in the order (Leyland had moved him out of the #6 spot where he was hitting, and was hitting him 3rd, where he wasn't) that he's now on the Disabled List for treatment on his ankle again.  Now that Magglio Ordonez is out, look for his replacement, left-handed hitting Andy Dirks to get some time in the outfield.  Dirks out hit ALL Tigers for the majority of Spring Training, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him replace Boesch in the #3 spot to give Brennan a rest.

Another disappointing hitter has been Brandon Inge.  Brandon is hitting .198, and only seems to get hits in clutch situations.  Perhaps because of this there was a Detroit News article on May 6th reporting that the Tigers were interested in 3rd Baseman David Wright from the New York Mets.  Wright has made the National League All-Star team 5 years in a row and is a career .300 hitter, but has only hit .152 over the last 10 games for the Mets.   Would the Tigers replace Inge?  Let's hope his bat picks up so they don't have to.

The other concern area is Ryan Raburn.  Raburn has been on a long slow glide to sub-.240 hitting currently at .214 and his slugging percentage is not any better than Don Kelly's or Austin Jackson's at the moment (See Season Stats).

On a positive note, there is a report that Carlos Guillen is back to hitting, taking fielding practice and running bases down in Lakeland.  The Tigers haven't announced when he'll be baseball ready, but when he does return look for as big an impact on Tiger hitting as adding Victor Martinez to the lineup has been.  This may bode well for the 2nd half of the season.

So can the Tiger's streak continue?  Can they keep winning at this pace?  Yes, if Scherzer and Coke can match the performances Verlander, Penny and Porcello have put in they can.  If the Tigers have to rely too much on the middle relief there are going to be some tough games to win against some tough teams coming up.  The hitting won't always be there, so you've got to have good pitching.  The Tigers can win close games, and if they continue to pitch well they will be in 1st place by June 2nd!

GO TIGERS!!     ---Rob





Photo Credits:
Brad Penny and Jhonny Peralta by John T. Greilick - Detroit News
Victor Martinez by Leon Halip - Getty Images