Each 18 games represent 1 inning of a baseball season. The Tigers record for the first 8 innings in 2008:

 

                                                            Starters:     Bullpen: 

    W-L   RS –RA     HR-SB-AVG/OBA/SLG    W-L-IP-   ERA     W-L-S-ERA

1:  6-12  74 -112    15-10-262/345/404    3-9- 96.2-5.96    3-3-3-5.28

2:  9-9   98 -87     21- 6-261/350/426    5-8-105.2-5.11    4-1-2-3.61

3:  8-10  89 -75     19- 2-275/326/442    8-5-109.2-4.19    0-5-4-3.83

4:  11-7  85 -74     19- 8-268/350/416    8-4-113.0-3.27    3-3-5-5.17

5:  12-6  86 -78     25- 6-297/347/476    6-4-106.1-4.23    6-2-6-3.43

6:  9-9   118-96     25- 8-299/368/483    8-6-105.0-5.49    1-3-2-4.03

7:  7-11  93- 103    26- 8-265/353/455    7-7-104.0-4.67    0-4-4-4.92

8:  8-10  91- 118    27- 8-263/335/475    4-8- 92.2-6.90    4-2-5-4.68

 

 

In the 8th inning ended with a three game winning streak, otherwise it would have been really ugly. The pitching has completely fallen apart. They gave up seven or more runs in 50% of the games in the inning. The team is playing out the string and it is clear that most of the team cannot wait until September 28th comes. Looking back at all the expectations that this team had in March, it is hard to believe how bad this team is.

 

The starting pitching was abysmal. Galarraga was the only pitcher with an ERA under 5.00 (and he barely made it). Miner has come back down to earth after some very good starts and the great mystery of Verlander’s 2008 struggles continue. Kenny Roger’s career looks over and Nate Robertson gave up 5 homeruns in his only start!

 

Name

GS

IP

W

L

K

ERA

WHIP

Zach Miner

4

23 1/3

2

0

10

5.40

1.37

A Galarraga

3

20   

0

1

15

4.95

1.45

Chris Lambert

3

11 2/3

1

1

8

6.17

1.89

Justin Verlander

4

20   

1

2

20

6.30

2.10

Kenny Rogers

3

14   

0

3

8

11.57

2.14

Nate Robertson

1

3 2/3

0

1

0

14.73

3.27

 

In the Bullpen, Kyle Farnsworth was terrific. The 2 Tampa reject (Glover and Fossum) also pitched well. Francis Beltran pitched 2.2 scoreless innings. No one else had a WHIP below 1.64. Do not be fooled by Rodney’s 5 saves, He gave up 7 walks and 10 hits in 8 innings!

 

Name

IP

W

L

S

K

ERA

WHIP

Kyle Farnsworth

7 2/3

1

0

0

10

0.00

1.17

Casey Fossum

10 2/3

1

0

0

5

2.53

0.94

Gary Glover

10   

1

1

0

5

3.60

0.90

Francis Beltran

2 2/3

0

0

0

2

0.00

0.00

Aquilino Lopez

14   

0

0

0

11

4.50

1.64

Fernando Rodney

8   

0

1

5

11

4.50

2.13

Clay Rapada

2 1/3

1

0

0

1

3.86

2.14

Freddy Dolsi

2 1/3

0

0

0

1

7.71

3.00

Nate Robertson

5   

0

0

0

3

12.60

2.00

Bobby Seay

4 2/3

0

0

0

3

13.50

2.57

 

 

The offense scored over 5 runs/game. Cabrera, Ordonez, and Granderson are leading the pace. Can anyone give a good reason why Sheffield is continuing to garner his regular playing time? If he gets to 500 homeruns (he needs 4 more) is he going to retire? If that is the case, bat him leadoff so he can get his milestone and save the Tigers 14m next year. Displaying from best to worst:

 

Name

G

AB

HR

RBI

SB

BA

OBP

SLG

Miguel Cabrera

18

67

8

20

0

.299

.347

.716

M Ordonez

18

70

4

16

1

.386

.408

.700

C Granderson

18

68

3

9

1

.324

.459

.632

Edgar Renteria

14

48

2

5

2

.292

.327

.521

Mike Hessman

7

17

2

3

0

.235

.350

.647

Marcus Thames

13

40

3

5

0

.250

.279

.500

Placido Polanco

16

71

0

7

1

.282

.301

.338

Carlos Guillen

5

15

0

0

0

.267

.353

.400

Dusty Ryan

2

4

1

2

0

.250

.400

1.000

Dane Sardinha

2

3

0

0

0

.333

.333

.333

R Santiago

10

21

0

1

0

.238

.333

.286

Matthew Joyce

16

31

0

2

0

.161

.308

.258

Brandon Inge

17

53

1

7

2

.189

.279

.283

Gary Sheffield

16

61

3

8

0

.180

.254

.361

Ryan Raburn

11

14

0

1

0

.143

.143

.214

Jeffrey Larish

8

25

0

3

1

.160

.192

.160

 

 

The Tigers must now go 12-6 in the final inning to have a winning record. DO NOT BET ON IT. As long as they keep trotting out Sheffield, Thames, and 29-year old minor league legend Mike Hessman and do not play any youngsters, there is absolutely no reason to watch the train wreck known as the 2008 Tigers. Watch the Lions, their 50 year run of futility will make you feel better about the Tigers.