DETROIT \u2014 Safe to say a four-game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins in April is not what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n
But does the Tigers\u2019 4-9 start actually signal deeper issues?<\/p>\n
Are there real problems with the Tigers\u2019 core players? Or are early-season emotions sparking unnecessary outrage?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at what readers want to know.<\/p>\n
Questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m concerned about several players and it goes back to last season, not just (13) games. Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Gleyber Torres are all struggling to hit, all look slow, none hit well in the second half. Small sample alarmism or real issues? \u2014 Tim D.<\/p>\n
This is a tough question to address. We\u2019ll start with Torres. He entered Thursday with a .393 on-base percentage. He\u2019s not slugging yet, but if he\u2019s working walks and mostly having good at-bats, it\u2019s pretty hard to be upset with that. His defense is what it is, which means it\u2019s not good. It\u2019s possible there\u2019s no real upside left in his bat. But he has a .330 lifetime OBP and should still project as about a 2- or 3-WAR second baseman, which is pretty good.<\/p>\n
Greene and Torkelson are more complicated. They are victims of high expectations and even their own success. These were highly touted guys expected to be the future of the franchise. In some ways, they\u2019ve met that, typically hitting in the middle of the order, helping lead back-to-back playoff appearances. That shouldn\u2019t be lost.<\/p>\n
But as they get more established, it\u2019s clear both are imperfect players. We\u2019ll get to Greene\u2019s speed and defensive declines in a second. But he entered Thursday hitting .208 over his past 87 MLB games, dating to July 2 of last season. Safe to say that is a very bad stretch and not just a small sample. Also worth pointing out: He\u2019s actually reached base safely in every game this season.<\/p>\n
Torkelson has been a bit better in that same timeframe (since July 2). He\u2019s hitting .242 with 14 home runs. The way he\u2019s struggled every other year in his career is strange. Perhaps we can find some perspective if we stop viewing Torkelson as a future Hall of Famer and just accepting him for what he is \u2014 a solid first baseman with good power. A good player, but maybe not a great one.<\/p>\n
The reason Torkelson and Greene get so much flak is because they\u2019re both very talented and were expected to be great. Greene is a two-time All-Star. Torkelson is a first baseman with 30-homer power. Neither is perfect, but we should remember almost every team would be happy to have these guys in their lineup.<\/p>\n
Obviously, though, they need to get going before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n
One, will Riley be anything more than a DH in the future due to his limited defensive abilities? Will he ever change his hitting strategy with runners in scoring position due to his complete and utter failure over the years? \u2014 Stan W.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s early, but we should note Greene\u2019s average sprint speed has slightly ticked up from 26.7 feet per second last year to 27 feet per second this season. That\u2019s still a far cry from the 28.1 he was at back in 2023. Greene\u2019s speed decline absolutely has me worried about what this looks like in a few more years. But I do think he\u2019s capable of being better than the minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved he was worth last season.<\/p>\n
Also, frustrating as he can look at times, Greene entered Thursday as a career .271 hitter with a .777 OPS with runners in scoring position. It\u2019s just not true to say he\u2019s bad in those spots. He entered Thursday 5-for-13 (.385) with RISP this year!<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, several ugly at-bats in high-pressure moments (and a couple of pitches he should have challenged) have caused people to think Riley is inept with runners on base, even though that\u2019s not actually true. He struggled badly last season in key moments \u2014 hitting .128 in \u201clate and close\u201d situations \u2014 but it\u2019s not always as bad as it seems.<\/p>\n
How does the team fix its putrid approach at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position? \u2014 Scott V.<\/p>\n
The Tigers entered Thursday\u2019s game with a .320 average with runners in scoring position, the very best in baseball. Their 22.5 percent strikeout rate in those scenarios was the 13th highest \u2014 so not great, but also not terrible. Even last season, they ranked 10th with a .258 average with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
Have the Tigers been playing their best baseball? Clearly not. Are their long stretches of scoreless innings frustrating? Absolutely. Have they missed out on a few big opportunities? You bet.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s funny how the emotions of a few bad at-bats can obscure the whole picture.<\/p>\n
The biggest issue with this offense has probably been the lack of home-run power. Interestingly, though, Tigers hitters are performing pretty well in a lot of underlying metrics. There\u2019s a pretty sizable gap between the team\u2019s actual slugging percentage (.361) and its expected slugging percentage (.408).<\/p>\n
At this point, we should probably mention how pitching has been as big a problem \u2014 if not bigger. The Tigers entered Thursday\u2019s game with a 4.40 ERA. Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez both had rough starts in Minnesota. Those guys are good enough that they should be fine. But the Tigers need their staff as a whole to be close to elite to make up for some of the offensive holes. So far, that has not been the case.<\/p>\n
Besides Kevin McGonigle and Colt Keith, what positives have you seen from the offense? Is there any hope for reinforcements for middle relief? \u2014 Matt T.<\/p>\n
So there\u2019s a really nerdy stat called xwBAcon (expected weighted on-base average on contact) that uses exit velocity and launch angle to measure quality of contact. The Tigers rank fifth in the league right now with a .382 xwOBAcon. Tigers hitters also aren\u2019t whiffing as much as you might expect. The team\u2019s 25 percent whiff rate as of Thursday was only the 20th highest. I\u2019m not sure a 13-game sample can tell us too much, good or bad, about this team. But again, there are numbers that suggest the offense is performing better than it might feel like at times.<\/p>\n
The short answer to the second part of your question is yes. Relief pitching is volatile by nature, and the Tigers planned for that with all the minor-league deals they signed this winter. Many of those pitchers did not have good springs. But I\u2019d expect some of them to be useful at various points this season. Although Drew Anderson and Enmanuel De Jesus haven\u2019t been sharp, Connor Seabold hasn\u2019t surrendered one earned run.<\/p>\n
I think we\u2019ll see Drew Sommers at some point this season. Brenan Hanifee is a reliable option waiting for the call. Burch Smith had a strong spring, and Ricky Vanasco has struck out 14 batters over his first 6 2\/3 innings in Toledo.<\/p>\n
Overall, I see this two ways. I don\u2019t always love how the Tigers prioritize quantity over quality when it comes to arms. Nobody waiting in Toledo has sky-high upside. I\u2019ve heard multiple scouts gasp at the lack of high-quality relief pitching in the upper levels of the system.<\/p>\n
But given injuries and the general randomness of middle relief, the Tigers\u2019 approach makes sense. They have plenty of options they can turn to, even if none of them are super exciting at first glance.<\/p>\n
I could see the Tigers running into bullpen issues as the season drags on. Their approach is still better than the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are just rolling without a single left-hander in their bullpen.<\/p>\n
If the Tigers decided to trade Torkelson, what kind of trade value do you think he has? Could we get a Triple-A pitching prospect that might become a fourth or fifth starter, for example? I raise the issue because Keith can play first base and so can farmhands Josue Brice\u00f1o and Thayron Liranzo. \u2014 Blake<\/p>\n
We probably shouldn\u2019t be talking about trading players 13 games into the season, but if that\u2019s what you guys are talking about, I\u2019ll address the question.<\/p>\n
One of the issues with the urge to blow up the Tigers\u2019 existing core is the fact that many of these players have more value to the Tigers than they would elsewhere. Teams might like to have some of these players, but that doesn\u2019t mean they would give up meaningful assets to acquire them. Greene, assuming he doesn\u2019t lose all defensive value, would have the most appeal to other teams. He\u2019s also arguably the Tigers\u2019 best hitter!<\/p>\n
Teams could argue Kerry Carpenter is nothing more than a platoon bat, and thus it would be tough for the Tigers to get much.<\/p>\n
Torkelson is interesting because he still profiles as a middle-of-the-order bat for plenty of teams. He\u2019s also a right-handed first baseman whose best tool is power. Rarely do you see teams give up much for that. It\u2019s a profile that tends to age poorly (see: Christian Walker). It\u2019s also a profile that can be easily replaced for cheap (see: Rhys Hoskins on the Guardians.)<\/p>\n
Could the Tigers get a mildly intriguing arm for a player like Torkelson, if they ever wanted to make such a move? Probably. But I\u2019m not sure they would get much more.<\/p>\n
And maybe that gets to the point of this whole discussion.<\/p>\n
Which current everyday player do you envision being here in three years besides McGonigle and Keith? Does the club ever look to take action beyond coaching for the poor strike zone plate discipline? \u2014 Daniel G.<\/p>\n
Dillon Dingler, for sure. We should probably have more appreciation for how quickly Dingler has blossomed into one of the game\u2019s top catchers.<\/p>\n
Another way to think about Greene and Torkleson is this: They\u2019re both good players, but perhaps not the type who will warrant lucrative contract extensions. As you mentioned, Keith will still be under contract in three years. If his breakout continues, he could look like quite a value \u2014 assuming he eventually settles into some sort of defensive home.<\/p>\n
The fact that the Tigers don\u2019t have other core players who project to still be here in three to four years isn\u2019t necessarily unusual. You could even argue it\u2019s a good thing the Tigers don\u2019t have aging, expensive players who will bog them down years into the future.<\/p>\n
There is eventually some reshaping to do here. And there is plenty riding on McGonigle, Max Clark and Bryce Rainer becoming the players they\u2019re projected to be. When it comes to plate discipline, the Tigers have hope the next wave of prospects will have a better profile when it comes to contact and pitch selection. Those players are the next torchbearers for the franchise \u2014 just as Greene and Torkelson once were only a few short years ago.<\/p>\n
Sometimes baseball is just a tough cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 Safe to say a four-game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins in April is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,5260,591,85],"class_list":["post-598038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}