Things Are Finally Back To Normal For The Detroit Tigers, Which Means They Can't Win A Game And All Their Hitters Stink
It was fun while it lasted.
Every Tiger fan knew that at some point this team, which was projected by most to lose 95+ games, would have a "come back down to reality" skid. I figured we might not see the worst stretch until July, but the injuries to Eduardo Rodriguez, and Riley Greene accelerated that process. The Tigers are back to being awful. They have now last seven games in a row.
The offense has returned to its regularly scheduled historical awfulness. They scored six runs last night against the Diamondbacks, which is impressive considering that they just went through a six-game losing streak in which they only scored eight (3 of those runs being unearned). Their best player is still injured, and their pitching staff, which more often than not has done an admirable job of getting hitters out this season, is starting to show some wear and tear from a lot of overuse. A lot of the starting pitchers have yet to be able to go very deep in the games, and now the bullpen has started to wear down in high-leverage situations.
I wrote a blog about a few weeks back, declaring that the Tigers as an organization had turned the corner. I regret that and look like an idiot in hindsight, but my argument was sound. You can lose baseball games and still play winning baseball, and I think we've seen that at points this year. This team's biggest issue has been that they severely lack talent.
I can't blame the new president of baseball ops Scott Harris for that. He's been here for less than a year, and he's trying to assess what he has. It will be a minute before you hear me criticize this guy. This year's trade deadline will be very telling, though. I believe he inherited a mess, but until proven otherwise, I believe in a long-term plan here. Scott Harris will likely acquire young players, and one day, the Tigers will return to competing under his regime. Guess what? That doesn't mean shit to me now, and it hasn't meant shit over the last seven years because they've been miserable.
Yesterday was one of those Tiger games that legitimately depressed me. When you're sitting in a restaurant on your phone, watching your favorite team get their shit kicked in by an Arizona Diamondbacks team, who started the rebuild well after you did and will waltz into October this year while the Tigers may struggle to win 60 games again, it gets a bit depressing. It was my birthday, for god sakes. And I could take a night off, but not really. This team is like the venom symbiote. They just latched on to me permanently. If I miss a game, that means I'm not working.
"Patience" is a word that the current Tigers regime has preached. Now I will argue until I'm dead that there hasn't been a more patient fan base over the last 7-8 years than the Detroit Tigers. We've waited for them to deliver, and they never do, but I also understand that most of that frustration has to do with a previous regime and not necessarily this one.
But you can be remarkably patient and still feel immense frustration. One of my favorite players in baseball right now is Diamondbacks youngster Corbin Carroll. The guy is a rookie, and it wouldn't shock me if he competed for the National League MVP this season. Last night, in his first career game at Comerica Park, he hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the Diamondbacks' 11-6 win.
The kid put on a show at Comerica. Why does this concern me at all? Well, Spencer Torkelson, who was the Tigers' number-one overall pick three years ago, has one home run at Comerica Park this season. He's played 27 games at that park and has had 113 at-bats. One home run at Comerica. Corbin Carroll has two. I'm sorry, but do you have any idea how fucking annoying that is? And I'm aware that Spencer Torkelson had a nice game last night. How about you do it again and again and again and again, and maybe by the end of the month, you won't have a negative Wins Above Replacement anymore?
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Who knows, maybe in the long run Spencer Torkelson will become 10 times the player Corbin Carroll is. That won't happen, but I can at least hold out some hope. But the Detroit Tigers player development system is the major league baseball equivalent of pulling teeth. This is what is going to define the Scott Harris era. It won't be the free-agent market or whether or not they can keep the pitchers healthy. It will be whether or not he can find a way, after 30 fucking years of incompetence, to develop promising young hitters.
The Tigers' track record of developing position players at the major league level is the worst in baseball. I know they've had a few pitchers, but do they deserve credit for Verlander? He's Justin Verlander. He'd have been a Hall of Famer regardless of whether or not he pitched in Detroit. But sure, I'll give them Verlander, Porcello, and some of the other pitchers that came up in their system. But if we're talking position players, they last had a star in the 80s. No, Miguel Cabrera doesn't count. He's one of the greatest hitters of all time, but he was a top-10 hitter when the Tigers acquired him. Miggy is obviously a Tiger great, but his development had nothing to do with the Tigers. He was elite when he got here. I'm talking about a player that spent the majority of their minor league career in the Tigers system and became a star.
They've had some good exciting players like Curtis Granderson and Alex Avila, but those guys were never superstars in Detroit. And even if they were, that was a long time ago. Nick Castellanos was a nice player who came up through Detroit's system. They also completely fucked up his development by starting him at third base when they seemingly didn't have anywhere to put him. And while he was solid offensively, it took him a long time to get going. He had a negative WAR during his first season in the league, and by 2015, there were rumors about him being sent down. He also had his best years elsewhere. Like I said, it's like pulling teeth.
There's no Corbin Caroll in Detroit. There's no Mike Trout or Julio Rodriguez. Could Riley Greene be that guy if he comes back healthy? Maybe. But he's not here right now because, much like every other good thing that ever happens to the Tigers, they either go to other teams or get injured in Detroit. And this has always been an issue, but at least when the Tigers were good, they could mask that problem by spending a shit ton of money.
That's not going to happen again. Gone are the days of loading up your lineup with Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez, and Miguel Cabrera in his prime. Those were all guys the Tigers spent big money on. Nowadays, they like to spend money on players like Javier Báez, the worst baseball player of all time, even though he homered on my birthday and won me some money. You have done something horribly wrong if that's the crown jewel of free agency.
Just fix it. I don't care if they draft nothing but hitters in this upcoming draft. That wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I cannot take the offensive ineptitude anymore. Last night they scored six runs, most of them coming in garbage time, and I felt like throwing a parade. It grows increasingly maddening every day because, despite all the injuries and all the nonsense, this would be a first-place team with a league-average offense. And I'm also aware that there are some good pieces down in the farm system that fans are very excited about. I'm very excited for Colt Keith, but I am done declaring any prospect the next big thing until I see it. Corbin Carroll, Julio Rodriguez, and Mike Trout are incredible because those guys lived up to the hype.
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I'm tired of watching the grainy footage of minor league highlight reels. Just get it right. That's all I want. Give me one outstanding major-league player that comes up through Detroit's system and hits immediately. Those guys can be culture changers. And as much as I appreciate the influence that the current regime has on the organization, the best way to change your culture is to win. You only do that if you have good hitters. Please, please find some.