After 42 games, 17-27. 10 HUGE games under .500. I keep trying to look for the positives. Unfortunately, it is getting tougher and tougher to do so.
There are too many things that stick out like a sore thumb affecting this team. Too many issues altogether that makes this team about as difficult to understand as a post-game interview with Jim Leyland.
I’m sorry Mr. Leyland, you’re going to have to slow down. I’m having a hard time understanding you…
Ah yes, the marble-mouthed manager has been given a free pass for too long this season. Yes, he knows his stuff. Yes, he has led three different teams to the post-season in his coaching career. Yes, he does have a World Series ring. I for one; however, am wondering if he has run out of answers? Has Leyland’s well run dry of the drive it takes to push, manage and run a professional ball club? The question has been asked if he is running into the same complacency as he did when he took a hiatus after managing the NL Colorado Rockies, when he unceremoniously stepped down from being the bench-boss after only one season.
It has taken a while, but fans are really starting to grow impatient with this team as they expect and deserve so much more. It’s no secret that the memories of that magical out of nowhere season in 2006 are becoming more and more vague. Was that team the anomaly? On paper, with the names on this payroll (as Dombrowski has put together a fantasy-laden dreamteam) that this roster can throw at opposing pitchers on a nightly basis it is tough to imagine that it has been Matt Joyce that has carried the offensive load of late. Or that after eight trips through the rotation it is Armando Gallaraga that has been their most stable starter. No offence to either, as they have really done a nice job stepping into what has to be an extremely difficult situatioin. It can’t go unsaid though.
We assumed that the smiles were a sign of great things to come!?!?
Minus the stellar play of Magglio Ordonez, I beg someone to put forth an argument that another one of their “Murderer’s Row” candidates is earning their keep.
I, like many other of the Tigers faithful have waited for the turnaround. Thinking small things are signs of a 180, and that the good stuff is about to come. Little things in baseball can equate into a win here and a couple of those little things can turn into a streak and before you know it, a streak pulls you out of a slump and you can all sit around when it’s all said and done and laugh about the rough start. The only thing is, in the last five years, the Central Division winner has had an average of 95 wins. With 120 games left, the Tigers need to go 78-42 to hit that number. While maintaining a .650 winning percentage wouldn’t be impossible, it sure would be tough to pull off. Especially considering the struggles of their starting pitching thus far.
YIKES! I didn’t know that it was that bad…
I don’t even want to consider the Wild Card, because with the average play from the Central to this point is showing that the WC winner is going to be someone from one of the other two divisions, the Divisional title is probably their only hope. So, it all starts…(man, I feel as if I am saying that after each and every game…) on this home stand as the Tigers return to what hasn’t really been the friendly confines of Comerica Park for two three game sets against the Mariners and the Twins. If the Tigers can only start to win a series at a time, or maybe go through the rotation with five wins, (that would be considered a miracle!!!) what many would consider an insurmountable climb can at least begin.
Yet another exciting Tigers homestand?
The schedule doesn’t get any easier as we enter the summer months. The Tigers must start with the Central Division and improve their play against teams that they should beat. Get the bats going, and let’s start putting together some quality starts for crying out loud. I’ll get off of my soap-box and leave the managing up to the “Marlboro Man”. That is, if he is still interested in job.
