Oh, the horror

When will it end? The Tigers are 0-7 and no team has ever started 0-7 and made the postseason, so one week into the campaign and I'm forced to look at a situation that, at least historically, is hopeless. For some reason I thought a photo of a Tiger seemingly over-run by piglets was appropriate.

Detroit has been outscored by 29 runs in seven games. The Tigs have only scored 15 runs while the AL average at this point is 32. This is mindboggling bad for a team with so much talent.

Here are some other offensive numbers vs. the AL average:

BA .234 - .255

OBP .308 - .328

SLG .332 - .399

P/PA 3.71 - 3.76

GB% 43 - 46

LD% 18 - 17

BABIP .276 - .286

BARISP .140 - .255

The two most glaring stats, to me, are the average with RISP and the OPS. The Tigers' SLG of .332 is obviously awful -- and then consider Juan Pierre has a career .373 SLG and even managed .353 without a HR last season -- and you really feel sick.

It would seem the Tigers have had some degree of bad luck, although I think it's minor because I haven't really seen Detroit batters stinging the ball.

Here are pitching stats vs. the AL average:

ERA 5.20 - 3.98

DER .688 - .701

LD% 15 - 17

GB% 45 - 46

IF/Fly% 18 - 17

K/G 5.3 - 6.2

BB/G 4.3 - 3.2

HR/G 0.90 - 0.93

SLG .452 - .399

LOB% 64 - 73

The strikeouts, walks and LOB% jump out. Also, the DER, which was closer to the league average prior to yesterday's game. The infield defense has been getting ripped by fans, particularly Carlos Guillen's play around the bag at first and Miguel Cabrera's at third. Even Placido Polanco has been dragged down, making his first E in more than a year. I know it's early, but Cabrera's range-zone rating on Hardball Times is a pathetic .455. Polanco's has dropped to an AL worst .636 among 2Bs.

If the Tigs are going to walk more batters, strikeout fewer and get to fewer balls than the average AL team, there is no way they will overcome this 0-7 start.