Terry Ford: Tigers Starting Pitching
Finally!!!!! It's almost here. The American League Division Series gets between the Orioles and the Tigers gets cooking Thursday afternoon. And if you listen to some of the experts… Why should the Birds even bother to show up?
I mean, Detroit was 5-1 against Baltimore this year. The Tigers have three Cy Young Award winners in their rotation. There is no way the O's can score a run against these guys? Forget runs, can the poor Orioles even get a hit? And the Tigers have been to the play-offs four straight years and have rolled to the World Series twice since 2006. The Orioles have no chance, right?
Yes, the Tigers have the big name starters. Yes, the Tiger starters have the ability to dominate this series. Funny thing is, if I told you one teams starters had a 3.61 ERA and the other pitched to a 3.89 ERA I guess you say that it's a no-brainer… the great Tigers starters have the better earned run average! Nope, the no-name Orioles starters out-pitched the Tigers starters this season.
I know that the Tigers have power pitchers like Max Scherzer and David Price in the rotation and power pitchers usually fare better in the post-season than guys who don't overpower hitters but Price has struggled in the play-offs. Justin Verlander and Scherzer were excellent in the post-season last year but Verlander doesn't seem to be the pitcher he used to be… Thanks Kate Upton!
Even if the Tiger starters are real good in this series, sooner or later they will come out of the game. The Tiger post-season rotation has only seven combined complete games between them this year. Which means that sooner or later in the game, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus will have to walk to the mound, take the ball from one of his big name starters and go to the bullpen. And that is when it becomes ADVANTAGE ORIOLES!!!!! The Detroit bullpen doesn't put out fires, it ignites them. They could be arrested for arson. The Tigers bullpen is 27th in the majors in ERA and 29th in opponent batting average…There only 30 teams by the way. Those numbers are Jim Leyland in a bikini ugly.
So, the Orioles starters don't have to match the Tigers starters pitch for pitch. They just have to keep the O's in the game and hand the ball to the Baltimore bullpen, which is 6th in the majors in ERA and opponent batting average. And oh yeah, four of the last 10 teams to go to the World Series had their starting pitchers average less than six innings a start so it can happen.
My work here is done… Time for a nap.
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