Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Oh funk

The Tigers are officially reeling, I believe. After today's loss to Seattle, the Detroiters have dropped 19 of their last 28. They're 4-10 since Justin Verlander's appearance on Sports Illustrated's cover.

On top of the hitting woes, which will be documented below, the Tigers released Dmitri Young. It's very hard to say how this will affect the club at this fragile time. It could shake them up, or send them into a deeper funk. The move certainly stunned just about everyone, apparently.

As for the bats, they must awaken. Detroit is hitting .233 with a .687 OPS in its six games this month. Here is a look at the Tigers' hitting by month:

Month Games Average Runs OPS
April 25 .286 133 .833
May 28 .264 130 .756
June 27 .274 157 .783
July 25 .294 129 .783
Aug 29 .263 116 .727

On the bright side, thanks to the pitching, the Tigers rarely get blown out. And they've shown a fighting spirit and ability to bounce back. But with the lead in the AL Central dwindling, they're going to have to start hitting better. The fears about the squad's lack of depth are being realized.

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