Hopefully this will be the last time I have to write about a sweep of the Tigers this year, but there's a chance it isn't. This is by far the most unexpected start to the way this season was supposed to go, and it might be possible that the weight of preseason expectations are catching up with the squad, even though I didn't think that was possible.
The sad thing is how simple the problems this team has revealed in the past four days. Clutch hitting isn't there yet, three or four bad pitches are costing starters the lead and the patience hasn't come at the plate. It's strange because on a team full of professional hitters, clutch hitting and patience seem like the last things we Tiger fans would have to worry about. But, so far the season is playing a lot like last September - nothing has gone the Tigers way at all.
Aside from two pitches, Jeremy Bonderman was lights out today. A change-up that stayed elevated against Alex Gordon and a missed location against Mark Teahan, and boom - three runs. He looked good after being sent home yesterday and the change-up is becoming more apart of his arsenal, but he simply missed with the pitch Gordon put over the Royals bullpen in left-center. Only allowing three runs should be good enough to get a win with this team, so Bondo probably pitched well enough to get a victory.
Here's the stat of the day for me, and probably the stat that told the whole story of this series - 17 men left on base by the Tigers. Yesterday when the Tigers managed just three hits, they left seven men on base. On Monday, the Tigers left a staggering 18 men on base. The more that Tiger hitters leave guys standing on first and second or standing on third, which must have happened two or three times each today, it's going to be hard to win. Guys on base have to score in order to count - leaving them out there doesn't count guys, OK?
Things have to change soon before Buster Olney starts bragging about how he told us so on ESPN. I'd really rather not give Cleveland a head start on the division race in April, so this Chicago series coming up tomorrow ought to tell us a lot about the backbone of this team.
By the way, the division standings to the right look eerily similar with Detroit already in last place, don't they? It's like being home, in a way.
The sad thing is how simple the problems this team has revealed in the past four days. Clutch hitting isn't there yet, three or four bad pitches are costing starters the lead and the patience hasn't come at the plate. It's strange because on a team full of professional hitters, clutch hitting and patience seem like the last things we Tiger fans would have to worry about. But, so far the season is playing a lot like last September - nothing has gone the Tigers way at all.
Aside from two pitches, Jeremy Bonderman was lights out today. A change-up that stayed elevated against Alex Gordon and a missed location against Mark Teahan, and boom - three runs. He looked good after being sent home yesterday and the change-up is becoming more apart of his arsenal, but he simply missed with the pitch Gordon put over the Royals bullpen in left-center. Only allowing three runs should be good enough to get a win with this team, so Bondo probably pitched well enough to get a victory.
Here's the stat of the day for me, and probably the stat that told the whole story of this series - 17 men left on base by the Tigers. Yesterday when the Tigers managed just three hits, they left seven men on base. On Monday, the Tigers left a staggering 18 men on base. The more that Tiger hitters leave guys standing on first and second or standing on third, which must have happened two or three times each today, it's going to be hard to win. Guys on base have to score in order to count - leaving them out there doesn't count guys, OK?
Things have to change soon before Buster Olney starts bragging about how he told us so on ESPN. I'd really rather not give Cleveland a head start on the division race in April, so this Chicago series coming up tomorrow ought to tell us a lot about the backbone of this team.
By the way, the division standings to the right look eerily similar with Detroit already in last place, don't they? It's like being home, in a way.