Can This Get Any Worse??

miggy4mvp — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:58:03 -0000

I try to be a glass half full kind of guy. But, every time I watch the Tigers I get the same rotten feeling in my stomach that I got watching our pitchers throw the ball around like it was a live hand grenade in the World Series of 2006. Do not get me wrong; this is not me jumping off the edge but at times I feel like I could.

I am personally getting sick about hearing about the weather as an excuse. It seems like everyone that I talk to is blaming the start on the weather. Yes, statically speaking offense does do better in warmer weather. But, it is not the fricking weather! I believe I see two teams playing out on the field and playing in the same conditions; one of them seems to be doing just fine. So lets just put that excuse to rest right now.

When is Leyland going to step up and become the leader of this team? This is his team, and I do put a good chunk of the blame on him and his staff. I like Leyland a lot; he is a huge reason why this team had one of the biggest turn around in baseball history. In my opinion Jim is one of the top five skippers in the game right now. But, if he is not careful, he is about to have one of the biggest let downs in history. He needs to get these guys motivated some how, light a fire under them, show them that this level of play is unacceptable, and wake these guys up. Maybe he needs to go “Lou Pinella” in the middle of the game, throw stuff, kick his hat around, crawl on his belly, and pick up a base take it with him; do the mother of all melt downs. Or, he needs to start screaming and throwing things i.e. Bobby Knight. Please Jimmy, just do something; show that you care.

Finally, onto the bullpen problem; these most guys are just terrible; they do not deserve even to be in the Majors. There is no reason to candy coat it and I cannot see Zumaya or Rodney being the saviors. There has to be someone in the Tigers system that can do somewhat of a decent job on a regular basis. Leyland and Dombrowski need to look at all levels, the way some of these guys are pitching there has to be someone that can do better, I do not care if they are in Single A right now, just call them up. Maybe they need to look at moving a starter to the pen for the remainder of the year. For example, put Robinson out there. Granted that would make our rotation weaker but let me explain my reasoning behind this. Nate always seems to do well for the first three innings, then the wheels fall off during the fourth or fifth; so he could only pitch one to two innings a game. He is dominant when he faces lefties and can strike guys out, so he could get that big out with runners in scoring position. Robinson only sees the field once every five games, by moving him to the bullpen, he could potentially pitch every other game or more; which has the possibility of the Tiger hanging on to leads or staying with in striking distance.

I know things can be turned a around, especially when I look at our line-up on paper, it is just a matter of time before they start hitting. All the Tigers need to do is put together a nice little five to six game-winning streak right now and they will be right back in the thick of things just because they are in the Central. The Central will beat the crap out of each other; just like the Big Ten does year in and year out. Can we honestly say that the Royals will be competing for first in August? Do not get me wrong, the Royals are vastly improved from years past and they will probably end up with a record around the .500 level. The Twins do not have enough star power to be a .500 club, but do have enough talent to put up a fight. The Indians have to pitching and the line-up to get out of the early season funk that they are in. And the White Sox are playing at a extremely high level right now, are getting some unbelievable pitching from the bottom of their rotation, and have played the nonexistent Tigers six time thus far. If I were a betting man, I would say that a team would have to win 87 to 93 games in order to win the Central. With that said the Tigers are still in it.

If any team can go last to first then it would have to be these Tigers. So guys, please keep me from jumping.

SB Nation User Blog: miggy4mvp

Can This Get Any Worse??