It is that time of the year, time for major league baseball teams to begin the annual spring training camps. The Detroit Tigers look to be very good on paper, and their batting lineup looks to be a new murders row, however issues remain so let's take a quick look at the biggest issues for the Tigers as spring training is set to begin.
Tom Gage of the Detroit News has put together a pretty good list. He lists five issues in no particular order of importance. So let us use his five and put them in some order of importance. It seems that the fifth starter of the pitching rotation is among the most important.
Justin Verlander was has a phenomenal year last year. Last August SB nation put together his stats on the days he pitched after a Tigers loss. At that time he was 14-3 starting games after a loss, and for the most part Brad Penny was the pitcher starting those games lost. If the Tigers can find a starter in that spot who can be a bit more productive they could greatly increase their win totals. That will go a long way towards securing a second straight AL central crown and help with their playoff seeding.
It would also seem that the next largest issue is Austin Jackson and the leadoff spot in the batting order. For this offense to be successful the Tigers are going to need Jackson and whoever bats second (most likely Brennan Boesch) to be productive and get on base. Gage makes the point that two years ago Jackson was very productive in the leadoff spot. Last year he batted just .249 and his on base percentage was .317. Both of those numbers need to increase.
After that the DH spot in this lineup seems to be of particular concern. That seems a little silly to say on a team that has Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Delmon Young, and other on the roster, but no one seems to want this job. That means Manager Jim Leyland will have to be creative in how he uses the DH spot.
To be fair Gage also list third base and overall team defense has big concerns, but we have seen worse defensive teams beat the Tigers with offense in recent years.
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