Originally Posted by
BuddyBear
For some strange reason, as I have pointed out in the past, the Tigers don't seem to match expectations. Of the 30 MLB teams, they have the 10th best record. And it was basically like that last year too. And they play in a pitiful division. To me, it's shocking that this team can't win 100+ games. For the most part, everyone on their team has been healthy outside of Austin Jackson and Omar Infante.
Verlander is down and down in a big way too. Sure, everyone knew there was no way he could sustain his performance from the past 2 years but this year has been a real struggle. Every game he is laboring out there and he is usually done by the 6th inning. Last yer he had 15 games where he went 8 innings or better...this year he has just 1 game. I am not convinced by Scherzer. His ERA is way to high for his record. Only a matter of time. Sanchez and Fister are slightly above average and Porcello is wildly inconsistent. Cabrera is still amazing but everyone else is just average or slightly above average in the lineup.
I think Tampa Bay matches up well against the Tigers and so does Baltimore. But I'd make Tigers slight favorites
too even with some of their shortcomings this year.