The Tigers And Their Three Aces
By: Jamie Samuelsen
The great thing about baseball is that there is a new game virtually every day. Bad feelings can turn good. Losing streaks can be snapped. And negative opinions become positive.
Such was the case this week with the Tigers.
After Rick Porcello pitched poorly on Monday (5 2/3rds innings, 8 hits, 5 earned runs) and Jacob Turner was bombed on Tuesday (2 innings, 6 hits, 7 earned runs, 3 home runs) – the panic alert was on. The Tigers needed starting pitching. And they needed immediately. There was buzz that the Cubs Ryan Dempster was going to be on the move by the time the White Sox arrived at Comerica Park for a three game series on Friday night. That might still happen. But things have settled down just a bit.
What happened?
Doug Fister and Max Scherzer happened. Fister went eight innings on Wednesday and struck out ten. Scherzer went seven this afternoon and fanned nine, allowing three hits and one earned run. The mighty Angels offense, which torched Tigers pitching for 19 runs in the first two games was quickly quieted down in the final two games of the series. In those two games, the Angels mustered just six hits and three runs against Fister, Scherzer and the Tigers bullpen.
So what does this all mean?
No, it doesn't mean that the Tigers are fine and shouldn't look to make any improvements as the trade deadline approaches. The #4 and #5 spot in the rotation are both still highly questionable. The Tigers still trail the White Sox in the AL Central. And the Sox figure to be aggressive as the deadline approaches as well. The Tigers still need an arm.
But thanks to Fister and Scherzer, the furor has died down a little bit.
First of all, the need for a #2 starter behind Justin Verlander is gone. Fister is looking every bit the pitcher he was in the second half last season and Scherzer is looking very capable of once again being the #3. So instead of loading up on a rental player like Cole Hamels of the Phillies or Zack Grienke of the Brewers, Dave Dombrowski can zero in on a second tier guy like Dempster or Matt Garza (also of the Cubs). That means that the Tigers most prized possessions (Nick Castellanos or Turner) can stay with the organization.
Secondly, Dombrowski can take a deep breath and reassess his roster and reassess the trade landscape. Manager Jim Leyland seem genuinely perplexed as to who his number two starter was prior to Monday's game against the Angels. I'm guessing that he's less perplexed now. Like we said before, two good outings don't mean that Fister is all the way back. And Scherzer is as frustrating as any player in baseball given his amazing ability but inconsistent results.
But thanks to two outstanding outings and thanks to three solid (or spectacular) pitchers at the top of the rotation – there's no need to panic. And following Porcello and Turner, panic was the order of the day.
