FIVE FOR FIVE

/ totallytigersblog

by Holly Horning

How do we more accurately evaluate how well the Detroit Tigers will perform this year?

Do we go with the assumption that they finished in 2nd place last year and improved their record (despite it being under .500)?

Do we go with the assumption that another year of experience for several former top draft picks will lift the team?

Or do we go with the assumption that they played above .500 towards the end of last year and will continue this trend?

None of the above.

There are so many variables in baseball.  So many things that can go right but also so many things that can go wrong.

Baseball is not a linear sport.  More playing experience or a rise in stats is never guaranteed to make one more successful.

This game really is about overcoming obstacles.  Solving issues that hold the entire team back.

Not just what 1 or 2 players can do.

Given this, what are the 5 biggest roadblocks that the Tigers need to overcome as a team?  Roadblocks that will try to prevent them from increasing their win totals?

1. THE SHORTSTOP DILEMMA – Javier Baez may be a plus defender but his abysmal offensive stats aid the opposition, kill rallies and drag the entire team down at the plate.  It doesn’t help that the Tigers currently have no other solid SS options and are stuck with playing Baez every day.

2. STARTING PITCHER INNINGS LIMITS – Out of 5 SPs, the Tigers have 2 of them who will have their innings limited this year.  Any other pitchers who get called up will also be monitored for how many innings they throw and the Tigers may have to reach down further and further into their system to help fill up innings.  Recently, they’ve had as many as 17-19 different SPs per year.

3. YOUTH AND INEXPERIENCE – Young players don’t automatically start performing well in their first year.  It often takes 2-3 years of experience in order for players to begin to hit their stride.  Half of the current roster of positional players have from slightly less than 1.5 years to just a couple weeks of experience.

4. YOUNG HITTERS – The same half of Tigers’ regular positional players mentioned above are also young and inexperienced hitters.  That’s going to create regular problems as the Tigers try to put runs on the board.  Only getting experience at the plate is going to improve them as hitters and increase the chances of driving in more runs.

5. NEW ROSTER – Half of the 26-man roster is new this year.  And it’s going to take time for this team to gel as a group.  You can’t put this many new members together and expect them to operate at full capacity in the beginning.  Relationships need to be formed, leaders need to emerge, rookies need to be mentored and 26 personalities need to coalesce into 1 voice, 1 mind, 1 body.

Is there another roadblock you see that is applicable to the entire team?

Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the page in order for your comments to be published.

What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • Javier Baez gets compared to Shohei Ohtani’s translator.
  • The fallout over Scott Boras’ failed free agent negotiations has started. Why Tiger fans should be interested.

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

13 thoughts on “FIVE FOR FIVE”

  1. Seems like we are suddenly lowering the bar on expectations. Yes it’s a another rebuild but with this weak division why can’t we expect better performance from the second and third year players as well as our free agents?

    Liked by 12 people

    • Year after year for the last decade that’s all we’ve heard is they are rebuilding if they admit to it or not. Prospects are jumping at the bit to be drafted by Detroit because they know they will only have to compete with other prospects instead of established veterans. Can you imagine being a first baseman in the Dodgers minor league system and having to compete with Freddie Freeman.

      Liked by 3 people

  3. Very good Holly at naming and discribing the roadblocks. Another roadblock will be injuries especially at SS, it seems every SS in the organization is injured except for Baez. Maybe it’s time to make a trade.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. The greatest obstacle to overcome is the other teams in this division. KC has the league’s biggest run differential led by a true young star SS in Bobby Witt Jr. Cleveland is also ahead of us as predicted and they’ve also started the season on the road.

    Liked by 4 people

    • I was as geeked as anyone during spring training. But thanks to a fawning media and our own giddiness I/we often forget that other teams use metrics, advanced training/development techniques too. Harris is better than Avila but is he better than his peers in other organizations?

      Liked by 12 people

  5. Overestimating your own players is an obstacle. Ownership/Front office focus on profits vs putting the most competetive team on the field today is an obstacle. Harris’s drafting, trading, and personnel moves have not been a major improvement yet.

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Another roadblock that is applicable is the performance of Maeda and Flaherty. If they struggle, then sometime in the summer the Tigers have to consider Matt Manning, Wilmer Flores, Jackson Jobe, and others. As Holly notes, it takes 2-3 years of experience before players hit their stride, so we might want to let these young pitchers start hitting their stride.

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Great assessment by Holly. The flaws are showing but I keep reminding myself that the season is young and other teams have their own set of problems. May have been too optimistic about this young team but swinging to pessimism may be premature.

    Liked by 5 people

  8. After spring training and the first two series, I couldn’t help dreaming that the Tigers had jumped over a couple of development years into being a contender for the World Series. I still believe the Tigers are better than last year, and that they will finish the season above .500. Much more fun to watch since Scott Harris.

    Liked by 6 people

  9. The Tigers are in a collective offensive slump and are still 7-4, thanks to some amazing relief pitching. I have plenty of faith the bats will come around with the exception of shortstop. This is a .500 team in 2024 that should continue to improve with the addition of Jung, Jobe and Co.

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Veteran leadership is an issue. Canha is new and there is no veteran pitcher to lead the staff, nor a bullpen guy since there is no formal established closer… Coaching staff and the manager must fill that void and they seem rather capable, but again have not produced an actual winner that would give them the credibility to truly burn in the new Tigers Way.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.