After watching the Tigers make Pat Hentgen throw 74 pitches in only 3 innings last night, I was prepared to write a piece showing how the Tigers offensive success this season could be attributed to the fact they are a more disciplined team at the plate. Through the first 7 games, the starter against the Tigers has only lasted into the 7th inning one time. At first glance it seemed the Tigers this year were practicing the approach of making the starter work hard to get to the bullpen sooner. As is often the method for this blog, I make observations watching the games, and then dig up the stats to support the observation.

I went to the game logs for the first 7 games of this year and last year. I know that 7 games is too small a sample, but they’ve only played 7 this year, and doing the whole season last year would have taken me far too long. Here are the results:

As you can see, opposing starters are throwing the same number of pitches per start, but they are going an inning and a half less than last year. However, if you compare the pitches per batter faced, the numbers are virtually identical. Which indicates that this years Tigers aren’t more patient than last years Tigers – at least through the first 7 games of each season. The difference is, that this year’s Tigers are much better at not making outs.

Also, I took at look at extended at-bats, or AB’s that went 8 pitches or more. Through 7 games, this year’s team only has one more than last year.

So what do we make of this? As much as I wanted to attribute the increased offensive production to some systematic changes in plate discipline and batting approach, the data just does not show it. It simply comes down to the fact that this lineup is substantially better than last years, which is a big “Duh!” Also, it calls into question the value of plate discipline. I’m not going to make any conclusions based on a 7 game sample size of one team, but the offense is generating 383% more runs while seeing the same number of pitches.

Quick Hits:
-Bonderman had another strong outing with 6IP, 7K, 1BB, 3ER’s.
-The Tigers defense collapsed last night. It had to happen at some point. The two unearned runs allowed last night, were the first allowed all season
-The Tigers finally return to TV tonight. Coincidentally I’m going to the game
-Is the buzz over for the Tigers? Last night’s attendance was 8804.