The Detroit Tigers Need to Get Out of their Funk
The Detroit Tigers need to get out of their funk and start playing baseball! Those of us who love our Tigers are sick of the mediocre game play and crappy pitching. Can’t at least ONE pitcher get out of their funk? Not even Verlander can seem to handle the “curse of the Tigers”, which has plagued the 2006 AL champs since just after the All Star Game. Sure, there is an occasional good moment, such as Andrew Tata’s big league debut in Oakland, which is one of the three meager games the Tigers have won since their loss streak began on July 26 (against the Chicago White Sox). In that time, Chicago and Oakland kicked their asses on the road and then Chicago came to Detroit to do it again.
In between, Tampa Bay, one of the worst baseball teams in the game currently with a 44-71 record and placement at the bottom of the East Division of the AL, shared wins during a four game series at Comerica Field. Yesterday, it was time for Oakland to cream the Tigers again and they did, winning in an astounding 16-10 victory over Detroit. I can only blame the pitching for this debacle as the offense (and defense) rallied together to try and keep the A’s from upping the Tigers again. Not even Tata could control the A’s and he left in the 3rd in a sad display, his rookie colors showing. If he keeps it up, they might just send him back to Toledo.
One that Toledo wouldn’t even want (the Mud Hens –my hometown team- are having a stellar season again at Fifth Third Field) is Jeremy Bonderman. The man is a train wreck waiting to happen. He leads the AL for the most wild pitches and why Jim Leyland keeps starting this pathetic excuse of a pitcher is beyond me. To improve their game, the Tigers need to crack down, seriously on their pitching, and toss out the ones who are either too old (sorry Kenny Rogers) or too lame (Bonderman) and work with the other pitchers to improve their skill. Andrew Miller, Justin Verlander, and Andrew Tata are amazing for such young players. Verlander obviously has the most control (pitching a no hitter certainly shows that), but all of them could definitely improve to become the Tom Glavine’s of the Tigers.
I say Leyland needs to get some fresh meat, work on developing a solid and dependable bullpen and keep the rest of the team on their toes (anyone think a drop off on Eight Mile might do the team some good by getting them working together and running back to Comerica in hopes they don’t get hit by a drive-by?) so they can play the game the way the did in the first half of the season…like the champions they are.
Detroit Tigers, Baseball, Losing Streak, American League, MLB
August 11th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
[...] The Detroit Tigers Need to Get Out of their Funk - The Tigers have won just THREE Games since August 26, 2007 despite having nearly non-stop play time. What has gotten them into this funk and how can they get out of it so they do not lose the Wild Card spot to the AL playoffs? [...]