The Tigers are nice start to the season with a 30-20 record. They currently are in first place of the AL Central and have one of the best records in baseball. The Tigers are once again in place to make a run at the World Series and perhaps win it.
One reason why the Tigers have a chance to win the World Series is because they have one of the best rotations in baseball. They are 13th in quality starts and 15th in earned run average. Not to mention they also have one of the deepest rotations in baseball. They are two Cy Young award winners on their team in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander whom are both of to good starts. Scherzer is 6-1 on the year with a 3.00 era. Verlander is 5-4 with a 4.04 era. Rounding out the rotation for Detroit is Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello. Rick Porcello already has eight wins on the year and 42 strikeouts.
“The Tigers rotation is pretty deep with Scherzer and Verlander,” senior Michael Carey said. “Porcello and Sanchez are also capable of giving the tigers quality starts too.”
Another bright spot for them is their offense. The Tigers have one of the best offenses in baseball. They have the second best batting average at .273 and they rank third in the league in slugging percentage with an average of .428. They also have two of the best individual hitters in baseball in Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. Cabrera has a .323 batting average, 8 home runs, and 47 runs batted in. Martinez on the other hand has is batting .344 with 12 homeruns and 31 runs batted in. Also to Martinez’s credit he has just as many strikeouts as homeruns which is almost unheard of. These two are arguably the best hitting duo in baseball because they bat back to back in the lineup on most days.
“The tigers offense is good because they get a lot of men on base and they can score a lot of runs,” senior Blair Subbaraman said. “Plus you have two guys in Miguel and Victor who are just absolutely killing the ball right now.”
This year, the Tigers are also capable of stealing bases. They have already stolen more bases this season then they did all of last season. This is because of the new additions to the team in Rajai Davis and Ian Kinsler. Davis has 14 steals on the year and Kinsler has 6. The increase in the amount of stolen bases can also be attributed to first year manager Brad Ausmus. Unlike the former manager Jim Leyland, Ausmus is not afraid let his team steal bases.
“I think stealing more bases will help the Tigers get to the World Series because the pitcher on the mound won’t be able to focus on the batter in the box because he will be too focused on not letting the runner get a good lead and steal the base,” Subbaraman said.
