Major League Baseball Postseason Predictions: American League – Part 4
Detroit Tigers are leading the American League Central Division with a 61-53 win-loss record and are expected to finish as leaders in their division with Cleveland Indians trailing behind at second place with a deficit of four games.
Detroit’s batting has been decent and the team has amassed 508 runs in the season so far but they have performed miserably when it has come down to halting runs. The Tigers have leaked 514 runs, six more than they have scored, in the season and their pitching
outfit is thus rated among the weakest in Major League Baseball.
In the Central division, however, the Tigers have the best run differential (-6) and thus it has not posed a serious threat to their supremacy at the top of the table. However, as the regular season comes to an end and the teams prepare for the playoffs,
it might become a tough ask for the Tigers to qualify or at least fight for a World Series berth with this deprived pitching unit.
Where their team’s batting average is ranked fourth in MLB at .268, their team’s ERA of 4.20 is placed at the 24th spot out of the total 30 spots. Justin Verlander has been their sole hope at the mound and they need at least one more quality starter
to complete a decent rotation.
Miguel Cabrera has stood to the challenge on the plate and has been by far the best batting hope for the Tigers this season. Cabrera has scored 76 runs in 114 games thus far at an average of .318. 22 of his runs have come as homers and he has yielded 128
hits at 403 at-bats. Cabrera’s hitting ability can be gauged from his slugging percentage which stands high at .556.
Cabrera needs support from Victor Martinez and Brennan Boesch to inflate the scoring rate and bring the run differential to a positive number at least. Martinez has scored 50 runs this season while Boesch’s tally is currently at 69. A strong performance
by the trio can ensure that the Tigers qualify for the postseason because they cannot risk their chances on the Wild Card spot which is most likely to be taken by Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees.
Detroit’s pitching, apart from Justin Verlander, has been ordinary. Verlander’s 25 starts have yielded 16 wins while only five games have ended in disappointment. His win-loss record supported with an ERA of just 2.30 make him a lethal force at the mound
and opposition teams have not had an easy outing against him.
However, the Tigers have not been able to establish a strong rotation around Verlander and this is where they misread the script. Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello have chipped in with impressive win-loss records of 11-7 and 11-6 respectively but their earned-run
averages have been on the higher side which has not helped their team’s cause.
The only other significant pitcher for the Tigers has been Jose Valverde who has exceeded all expectations with his pitching deep in the game. Valverde has proved himself as a dependable closer and his 32 saves at an ERA of 2.92 are worthy evidence of his
talent.
With the Tigers requiring consistency to make it to the postseason, the Indians need a strong resurgence to disintegrate the Tigers. It will be an intense fight between both teams for the top spot in the AL Central.
Continued in Part 5
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