The Tigers have managed to tie a 33 year old record for futility. They are the first team since the 1968 Dodgers to score one run in five straight games. Keep in mind that 1968 is generally regarded as the year-of-the-pitcher. The league average ERA that year was 2.99. This season only 5 pitchers have an ERA better than that. Also, Carl Yastremski led the AL in batting with a .301 average. So the Dodgers inability to score could be attributed to times when they were playing. What’s the Tiger’s excuse?
The Tigers have highlighted the fact that there are two components of hitting. One, is the actual mechanics of the swing. Things like bat speed and power. The majority of Tiger players do all right with this component. The second component is hitting approach and plate discipline. Here is where the Tigers are glaringly deficient. Higginson, Clark, and Fick seem to be the only hitters on the Tigers who consistently don’t look confused at the plate. Coincidentally, they also lead the team in OPS (.849, .936, and .907 respectively). This poor approach is why the Tigers haven’t been able to have any individuals sustain long hot streaks.
We are constantly reminded by Tiger announcers that they are a fastball hitting team. My question is, “What team doesn’t hit the fastball well?” These are major league players, they should all be able to hit the fastball. What seperates the good hitters from the bad ones is what they do with the other pitches. And again, this all comes back to plate discipline. Most of the Tigers (Easley, Encarnacion, Cruz, Magee, Simon…) are hitting from behind in the count because they don’t show any patience early in the AB. It is fine to be a fastball hitter if you can consistently get 2-0 and 3-1 counts.
Furthermore, many of the Tigers don’t know what to do in certain situations. Easley has no business hitting second because of his inability to advance a runner from second with nobody out. On several occasions over the last 2 weeks, Easley was up with Cedeno on second and nobody out. Easley fell behind in the count, and ended up pulling the ball to shortstop. Essentially wasting the AB. I understand trying to drive the ball early in the count, but if you have 2 strikes just hit it the other way and get the man to third.
So who’s fault is this? Is it Madlock’s? He seems to have a knack for making adjustments in guys swings, but the plate discipline is still a mess. Is it Garner’s? I have a hard time believing that the coaches aren’t preaching these things. Is it the scouting team? The Tigers do look confused a lot at the plate, but they look confused lots of other places as well. Or is it the players?