The Quartet of Tigers Threatening To Torpedo The Team's Season
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
The Tigers' offense has suddenly gone cold. Want to isolate the cause?
Look at the lineup. Start at the two-spot and make your way down to five. Let those names sink in.
Done?
Well there you have it.
The Tigers' offensive freefall can be traced back to Cameron Maybin, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos.
Since June 7 – beginning with the Toronto series – the Tigers are averaging 2.4 runs per game. Before that, they were averaging 4.9. This precipitous drop-off has seen their offense plunge out of the top ten in the league, down to 12th overall. If they're supposed to slug their way into the playoffs, it's time to update the odds.
During that ten-game span, here are the respective numbers for the Tigers' two- through five-hitters.
Maybin: .229, 1 extra-base hit, 0 RBI
Cabrera: .216, 1 extra-base hit, 0 RBI
Martinez: .081, 1 extra-base hit, 4 RBI
Castellanos: .222, 4 extra-base hits, 2 RBI
That's a combined hitting line of .186 with seven extra-base hits and 6 RBI. Over 145 at-bats.
(By the way, this is the third longest RBI drought in Cabrera's Tigers career. He went 11 straight games in 2015 and 12 straight in 2008.)
So those are the many problems with the Tigers' offense.
But there's only one solution.
"You just keep plugging away," Brad Ausmus said. "There's not much you can do. You can try and mix the lineup up once in a while, you can give guys rests, but ultimately they gotta come out of it on their own and it just takes time unfortunately."
Looking to jumpstart the offense heading into the series finale against the Twins, Ausmus tried an old managerial ploy. He told players they didn't have to be at the ballpark until noon for a 1:10 game, hoping the time away would help them clear their heads.
"It didn't really have much of an effect," Ausmus admitted.
No kidding.
For the third straight game, the Tigers were shut down by a mediocre pitcher. On Monday, it was Ricky Nolasco (5.02 ERA.) On Tuesday, it was Tommy Milone (4.71.) And yesterday it was journeyman Ervin Santana (3.93), who held the Tigers to one run over seven innings.
In total, the Tigers mustered four runs in three games against one of the worst pitching teams in baseball.
"Ya know what, man, they're in the big leagues for a reason," said Victor Martinez, using an old baseball trope. "It doesn't matter if they're in last place or not, they're still in the big leagues. They're getting paid, too, so don't forget about that."
Indeed. And like the Tigers, they're getting paid based on their ability – which is why Detroit's payroll is north of $200 million, and Minnesota's is almost $100 million less. Just as "they're in the big leagues for a reason," so are they in last place for a reason.
Know how many times the Twins had held the same opponent to two runs or less in three straight games this season, prior to coming to Detroit?
None. Not once. This is a pitching staff that wakes up each day hoping to avoid double-digit destruction. And against the Tigers they looked like the 1998 Atlanta Braves. One run on Monday, two on Tuesday, none on Wednesday. Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz.
True, the Tigers will snap out of this funk eventually. That's how baseball works.
"I don't think we're the only ones – watch around the league," said Martinez of the Tigers' offensive inconsistency. "If it were that easy then a lot of people would be hitting .400 and .500. One thing for sure is that we go out there and try."
Martinez, to be fair, isn't deserving of an .081 average in his last ten games. He has lined into a number of hard outs, and can't seem to find holes in the defense. And to his credit, he hasn't hidden behind the excuse of poor luck.
"Who cares if you hit the ball good or not," he said after Tuesday night's game. "People want results, we want results, that's the bottom line."
And the bottom line is the Tigers aren't getting them. They just lost two of three at home to the worst team in the American League, hardly looking like an urgent ball club in the process. Together, Maybin, Cabrera, Martinez and Castellanos went 6/42 (.143), the latter two producing two meaningless RBIs in Tuesday's 6-2 loss.
There's no magic potion to cure their hitting woes. There's nothing Ausmus can do, aside from removing them from the lineup, to relieve their struggles. It's up to each one of them to yank themselves out of this slump before they bring the rest of the team down with them.
