Detroit has lost its snarl — and plenty of games the last few weeks. Is it time for the Motor City to worry?Detroit Tigers fans, three weeks ago, smacked their hands together and pumped them skyward as they root, root, rooted for their home team. But now their hands aren’t applauding. No, their paws have ventured toward the panic button.
And for good reason.
After claiming the major league’s best record, the Tigers have floundered, hitting a low Friday night in a game whose score resembled a football game. Detroit lost to the Oakland Athletics, 16-10, looking nothing like a team that, last fall, swept Oakland to win its first American League pennant since 1984.
Detroit has lost seven of its last nine games, with the victories coming in a four-game split against the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
The recent slump appears worse when considering the Tigers’ opponents during the nine-game span: the A`s, twice, the Devil Rays and the Chicago White Sox. No division leaders. No playoff contenders, though they have looked the part versus a team struggling for consistency.
The question becomes: Is it time to press that panic button?
Conventional baseball wisdom says no. Losing stretches are bound to happen during a 162-game season, even to good teams.
But the Tigers aren’t just losing. They resemble the 2003 team that set the AL record for losses in a season, not a squad ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark picked to win the World Series.
In the last four games, opponents have outscored Detroit 40-18.
In mid-July, Detroit swept division foe Minnesota to earn baseball’s best record. Nobody even considered the panic button. Because it seemed the team had an easy button, everything came effortlessly. The offense clicked. The pitching shined. The wins piled.
Things, since, have changed a bit. Wins haven’t come easy — if at all.
The offense has shown flashes, but not enough to live up to its best-in-baseball reputation.
Then there’s the pitching. And, shockingly enough, the starting pitching, thought to be a team strength. The starters, which last year helped the Tigers earn the AL’s lowest team earned run average, have gone 1-12 with an ERA north of seven since July 19. The bullpen has stumbled all season. But when the starters toss batting practice, too, it doesn’t matter how many runs the offense produces. The catabolic slide will, surely, continue.
Remember, this happened against bad teams. The Tigers face tough tests over the next two weeks, when they have two series each against wild card co-leader New York and division-leading Cleveland.
Lucky for the Tigers, however, the rest of the division has struggled lately, as well. The Tigers only trail the Indians in the AL Central by a game and a half. They trail the Yankees and Seattle Mariners in the wild card race by a game. Forty-seven games remain, plenty of time to recapture either lead.
Along with that time, theoretically, comes improved health. Detroit has suffered injury problems for most of the year. But, despite a banged up lineup and pitching staff, the Tigers still sit in striking distance of Cleveland, New York and Seattle.
AL MVP candidate Magglio Ordonez has played through an injured foot. Team MVP, according to most, Gary Sheffield has played with an injured shoulder. Starting pitcher Andrew Miller recently went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained hamstring. Kenny Rogers, the team’s ace last year, sat out most of the year with elbow problems, returned for five starts and has returned to the DL. Relief pitcher Fernando Rodney just returned from the DL, while bullpen-mate Joel Zumaya should recover from a ruptured finger in September, team officials say.
So the cavalry is on the way. But where will the team’s morale stand when the team bulks back up? Will a lack of confidence prevent a resurgence?
Regardless, it’s not time to lose faith. An opportunity exists to get back on track. Almost fifty games in two months remain, during which the Tigers should, for the first time in a long time, return to full strength.
For those reasons, don’t press the panic button just yet.