
Looking At The Tigers At The All-Star Break
Your Detroit Tigers enter the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star break on a high note. They have won 10 of their last 14 games, and have climbed within three games of .500 at 47-50.
This after the Tigers took two out of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend. The two wins were maybe the most improbable of the season. On Saturday, they rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the 9th inning to tie it at 9. And then they went on to win 11-9 in 10 innings. Then on Sunday, the Tigers took advantage of two errors from Dodgers reliever Yohan Ramirez in the 9th inning to come back and win it, 4-3.
With the 47-50 record, they are 12 games behind Cleveland for first place in the American League Central division, but are seven games behind the Boston Red Sox for the 3rd and final Wild Card spot in the American League.
For a change, the Tigers are starting to hit the ball. Their team batting average is .234, but that's improvement as they have hit in the .220's most of the season. They have score at least 8 runs in four of their last 12 games. Andy Ibanez is up to .288, Riley Greene is up to .271. And after struggling mightily in the first half, rookie Colt Keith is now hitting .253 and showing major promise. There are signs of life at the plate.
As for the pitching staff, the starters have continued to be good. Tarik Skubal (pictured above) has been terrific. Despite an injury, Jack Flaherty has pitched well. And despite a 4-8 record, Reese Olson has a pretty good 3.30 ERA.
Jason Foley has been solid in the bullpen with 15 saves. Tyler Holton has a 4-1 record out of the 'pen, the same for Alex Faedo.
Things are looking up for the Tigers. They have 65 games left in the season. And the team's good play has probably forced the team to wait until the trade deadline (July 30th, 6pm eastern) to either buy, sell, or stand pat.
I say, let's get to .500 before thinking about the playoffs. There's a long way to go. But it's encouraging to see this team with young players starting to put it together.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!!!