2013 Tigers Hitting Projections

POSITION	PLAYER	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	R	SB
C	Alex Avila	16	70	280	361	65	3
1B	Prince Fielder	42	118	310	423	96	1
2B	Omar Infante	9	53	285	329	79	10
3B	Miguel Cabrera	40	128	337	420	116	5
SS	Jhonny Peralta	19	76	279	330	62	1
LF	Andy Dirks	14	64	294	349	72	7
CF	Austin Jackson	18	70	304	390	102	16
RF	Torii Hunter	21	82	287	359	80	5
DH	Victor Martinez	17	100	317	378	83	0
C	Brayan Pena	3	23	265	301	18	0
UT	Don Kelly	7	36	258	298	25	7
IF	Ramon Santiago	2	22	247	290	23	2
UT	Matt Tuiasosopo	10	34	270	309	20	2
OF	Quintin Berry	1	22	247	307	29	13

Torii Hunter Visits Detroit, Tigers Leading Bidder

Torii Hunter was in Detroit today visiting the Tigers and they are prepared to offer him a multi-year deal.  Hopefully only worth about two years as he is getting older and a decline is due at some point, but or the Tigers to have him in right field and hitting second would be huge for them, and he is a major upgrade over Delmon Young.  Of all the outfielders in this free agent class, Torii may not fit the best with the Tigers and Victorino may be the best fit but Torii has talent and the defense he brings to the Detroit outfield is great.  To have Dirks in left and Jackson in center along with him will be a great outfield and signing him and teaming that up with a Victor return the top of the Tigers line-up could be a machine.  At this point, Torii signing with Detroit seems likely and possibly the best move.  The Angels would hurt from his loss but with all of their players can’t afford to keep hom.  The Rangers are the only competition at this point and he though he fits with them and makes them a ton better too, he looks to be Detroit bound.  This is the player the Tigers need and he can hit well in Comerica.  He is just a good choice,a nd could add 20 homers from the two spot.  Torii will sign soon, as he did when coming to LA in the 2007/08 offseason.  PREDICTION: Tiger for 2 years, 23 Million

Line-Up With Torii

1. Jackson CF
2. Hunter RF
3. Cabrera 3B
4. Fielder 1B
5. Martinez DH
6. Dirks LF
7. Peralta SS
8. Avila C
9. Infante 2B

That looks amazing and Hunter protects Jackson and is protected by Cabrera, a hitter’s dream, even better than in LA with Pujols.  Martinez can handle all the pressure in the five hole too, so this line-up looks great

Detroit Tigers Awards

Tiger Of The Year

1. 3B Miguel Cabrera
2. SP Justin Verlander
3. CF Austin Jackson
4. 1B Prince Fielder
5. SP Max Scherzer

CY Young

1. SP Justin Verlander
2. SP Max Scherzer
3. SP Doug Fister

Rookie

1. SP Drew Smyly
2. LF Quintin Berry
3. RP Brayan Villarreal
4. RF Avisail Garcia
5. RP Darin Downs

Comeback: CF Austin Jackson
Relief Man: Brayan Villarreal
Breakout Star: OF Andy Dirks
Gold Glove: CF Austin Jackson
Postseason MVP: Phil Coke

Tigers at A’s ALDS Game 4 Preview

Keys
Tigers: Scherzer has been hot, but the offense needs to go out and score some runs early and often
Athletics: Support AJ Griffin because he won’t turn in as good of an outing as Brett Anderson did

Line-Ups
Tigers

1. CF Autin Jackson
2. LF Quintin Berry
3. 3B Miguel Cabrera
4. 1B Prince Fielder
5. DH Delmon Young
6. LF Andy Dirks
7. SS Jhonny Peralta
8. C Alex Avila
9. 2B Omar Infante

I like the look of this line-up more than last night’s.  It can score some runs and maybe hit a few homers tonight.  It could even go crazy which it needs to do.  One thing is I like Berry hitting in the two hole after what he did in Game 1 there but Garcia needs to pinch hit late in the game if it’s close.  Cabrera and Fielder could lead this group tonight.

Athletics

1. CF Coco Crisp
2. SS Stephen Drew
3. LF Yoenis Cespedes
4. 1B Brandon Moss
5. RF Josh Reddick
6. 3B Josh Donaldson
7. DH Seth Smith
8. C Derek Norris
9. 2B Cliff Pennington

This is a decent line-up, but I can’t see it production more than four runs max.  Cespedes and Smith have been the only ones to really impress me during the series, but Crisp, Drew, Reddick or Moss could help out tonight.  I like the Tigers line-up a lot better though

PITCHING MATCH-UP: OAK: AJ Griffin vs DET: Max Scherzer: Scherzer should pitch a great game and his stuff has been on lately for the Tigers.  I expect a lot of Tigers strikeouts today.  Griffin is good and he should do a decent job but I see him letting some baserunners on today and the Tigers hitting him decent and scoring some runs, but he could turn in a decent performance.  Scherzer should be his normal self that he was in the last two months of the year.  PREDICTED LINES: Scherzer 7 IP 10 K 2 BB 2 ER 6 H Griffin 5.1 IP 4 K 3 BB 5 ER 9 H

Hero will be…Miguel Cabrera
Goat will be…Josh Reddick

Prediction: Tigers 9 Athletics 3

My Tigers Playoff Roster

My picks for the Tigers playoff roster, complete with my game 1 line-up prediction and recommendation also congrats to Miguel Cabrera on winning the 2012 Triple Crown, the first since 1967.

1. CF Austin Jackson
2. RF Andy Dirks
3. 3B Miguel Cabrera
4. 1B Prince Fielder
5. DH Delmon Young
6. SS Jhonny Peralta
7. LF Brennan Boesch
8. C Alex Avila
9. 2B Omar Infante

SP Justin Verlander

C Gerald Laird
OF Avisail Garcia
2B Ramon Santiago
OF Quintin Berry
UT Don Kelly

SP Max Scherzer
SP Doug Fister
SP Anibal Sanchez
CL Jose Valverde
SU Joaquin Benoit
SU Octavio Dotel
MR Phil Coke
MR Brayan Villarreal
MR Al Albuquerque

ALCS Maybe
SP Rick Porcello
P Drew Smyly
RP Darin Downs
UT Danny Worth

Tigers Notes: How to win the divison in 2012

The Tigers can still win the AL Central in 2012 and defend their crown form 2011, though it isn’t as easy this year.  The Tigers have to take it one game at a time.  That situation is very true for this situation.  Their pitching is fine with Fister, Scherzer, and Verlander all being aces in the staff this year.  The offense just needs to score runs, and even if they are just enough they need to spread their runs out and score enough to win games.  If they improve in one run games that makes this team even stronger.  The offense will perk up to Miguel Cabrera, prince Fielder and Delmon Young will be great in the middle, the end guys just have to get a few RBIs each game and improve, which may be the hardest thing out of this teams needs list.  The Tigers should be fine they need to take at least 2 from the White Sox though and then only lose 3-4 against the teams they should beat and the A’s.  If the Tigers make the playoffs anything can happen, and the Tigers are a strong playoff team with talent and experience along with an overall ability to get hot and win.  Things are only looking u from here for the Tigers.  Another thing is to utilize the players on the bench the right way and pinch run Berry, bring in Santiago at short after the seventh or eighth to play defense sometimes, and using Garcia in the line-up and bigger situations.

Tigers Quarter Mark

THE IDEA: Famous Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson said you will know a lot about your team after 40 games, that’s true a lot of the time, but not always as proven by the 2011 Tigers
THE LOOK SO FAR: They are 20-21 through 41 games, but last season they struggled like this too and they have some slow starters that are starting to hit and pitch better such as Fielder, Young, Valverde and Scherzer.  Now just Avila and Peralta plus the bottom of the order, which it will sort out and the Tigers will win at least 90 games, very likely more and along with the line-up the bullpen will get a bit better at least and some acquisitions could boost the team a lot.  The rotation is really taking shape and the five arms in it, I like a lot.  This team is still good, they just need to put it all together for a few game and it will all take off, just like last year.  They might have already done that with Verlander and Scherzer’s great games and we will see if they can build a winning streak on this road trip, which could turn them around.
WHO’S HOT?
Miguel Cabrera: Average will rise and so will OBP, but he’s here for being the top offensive performer like usual and being above average, slightly, at third base.  He’s done what everyone’s expected and more, and he will do even better too.
Austin Jackson: He is hitting like 2010 again and with power, and that is the real Jackson and his defense is as good as usual
Andy Dirks: His will cool down a little bit but his power will stay and he will still hit very well.  He can stay in LF and may be able to keep starting and he’s been great
Justin Verlander: You know why he’s here
Drew Smyly: He wills struggle some, but for the most part he’s a dominant lefty and that’s what he will develop into too and he will be very useful this year
WHO’S COLD?:
Jose Valverde: Will warm-up
Prince FIelder: Not cold but will warm-up
Alex Avila: Will warm-up
Ryan Raburn- Second half will be his
Delmon Young- Will warm-up, do decent
Jhonny Perlata: Will warm-up
RECAP: Boesch will also be a big and good factor and the first 40 games aren’t that telling this year, this tigers team will heat up and June and July could be some of it’s best months.

What Is Wrong With The Tigers?

The Tigers find themselves back where they were in 2011, at a 10-10 record 20 games through the season, they have lost 5 straight though.  There is no reason to panic though because Prince Fielder, Alex Avila, and Jhonny Peralta, and Brennan Boesch will soon join Austin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera hitting well.  Verlander’s worst month will always be April and he will warm-up and Porcello is just getting more experienced and he and Scherzer could start doing well at any way.  The major problem so far has been the bullpen, the Tigers need to find another arm that will fit with the 5 good ones they have now, that arm could be a guy like Putkonen or a free agent like Mike Gonzalez.  Still things are at their absolute worse right now and everything should start to change.  The Tigers are a deep team that will win.  Every team goes through a bad stretch in a season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was it for the Tigers and they won’t get this cold again.  Delmon Young also needs to come back and start hitting as soon as he is removed from the restricted list following his arrest.  This team will shape up and be what we thought they would, they have too many talented players not to.  Last year the Tigers lost 5 straight twice and still won 95 games.  There is no reason for panic this early and they can easily still win even 100 games.  Nothing major is wrong, just a cold streak.
TODAY: Drew Smyly is the perfect guy to bring the Tigers out of this losing streak, he has been good and I think he can survive Yankee Stadium have a decent start at least, and the Tigers can hit Garcia really hard and beat him like they did the last time they faced him in Game 2 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium

Tigers Hitters: Going Up, Down, or Same?

Austin Jackson: Same
Brennan Boesch: Up
Miguel Cabrera: Up
Prince Fielder: Up
Delmon Young: Same
Alex Avila: Up
Jhonny Peralta: Same
Ramon Santiago: Up
Ryan Raburn: Up
Brandon Inge: Up
Gerald Laird: Down
Don Kelly: Same
Andy Dirks: Up
Jackson is becoming a great leading guy find Fielder and Cabrera should get better by the end of the month and get their power back with it. Boesch should click with them. Behind them contributions big and small should be made and Avila, Young and Peralta will keep it going. This offense will get going big and tear it up all summer.

Tigers Predictions for 2012

MVP: 3B Miguel Cabrera
CY: SP Justin Verlander
Breakout Player: SP Rick Porcello and OF Brennan Boesch
Chance at Dissapointing: Nobody really bad but if I had to pick one guy, Brandon Inge
Rising: OF Austin Jackson
Falling: 2B Brandon Inge
Chance at 100 Wins: 65%
Better:
Benoit or Valverde: Valverde
Fielder or Cabrera: Cabrera
Young or Peralta: Young
Avila or Young: Avila
Scherzer or Porcello: Porcello
Boesch or Jackson: Jackson, in a really close one
Home Runs Hit: 209
Verlander K’s: 268
Valverde saves: 42
Benoit Holds: 30
Jackson K’s: 144
Boesch HR: 22
Cabrera AVG: .347
Avila Games Caught: 127
Fielder HR: 45

Note: Inge could still make some contributions this year