After holding their own for a majority of the season, it seems a rash of injuries to pivotal players have finally caught up to the Tigers. Yes, their pitching has performed at decent levels, but it has not been enough to continue to compete in the division. Unfortunately, since the injuries, the offense has become anemic. Obviously, when this occurs, sustained success is impossible to come by.
With a plethora of injuries to key players, the team has been unable to find the stride they once had earlier in the season. Along with serviceable pitching across the board, the offense performed at a level that allowed the squad to stay competitive in the less than stellar American League Central Division. Hitters were hitting homers and driving in runs. Then, injuries occurred in big numbers to needed contributors. Riley Greene, Matt Vierling, Eduardo Rodriguez, and others all hit the injured list roughly at the same time. Given this occurrence, it’s no surprise a 9 game losing streak then followed. With so many important pieces out, winning games has proven to be a difficult task.
Any time most of a team’s starting rotation is out for a significant period of time, that is not a recipe for success. Among those missing are: Matt Manning, Eduardo Rodriguez, Casey Mize, and Spencer Turnbull. Never have all of them been healthy enough for any length of time to gauge what types of positive impacts they can have. Each of these pitchers have had flashes of success, but have been unable to stay on the field to help this team win. If this group of pitchers are able to ever perform in unison, their collective performances could make this team unstoppable.
In MLB, every team deals with multiple injuries, it is then, that good teams have talent on the roster to replace the missing production from the starters. The Tigers have shown this ability on and off this season, but have been unable to do it consistently enough to put more wins on the board. Though it is unlikely, it remains to be seen whether the current group of Tigers can put it all together and get over the .500 mark. If they get there, and remain in that vicinity for the rest of the year, this season could be deemed successful.
For the last couple years, injuries have been the main hindrance to the Tigers developing a winning culture. This year seems to be panning out similarly. Both pitchers and hitters have been decimated by the injury bug. It is unclear if and when this will change. If the team is unable to avoid this amount of injuries each year, success may be further away than we think.
Very disheartening.
ReplyDelete