We’re not going to mention the “P-word” here in the Detroit Tigers Newsletter.
You mean, “playof…?”
No! Not yet.
What about “postseas…?”
No, come on, not that one either.
Well, what if we don’t start with “P”? How ‘bout “Octob…?”
No. Nuh-uh. Not the “O-word” either. Not in August, which it still is for one more day. (Unless you’re reading this on Tuesday, in which case, you should check your email more often, not-so-faithful reader.)
And really, not in September, not for a week or so. A lot can happen with 28 games remaining, y’know? The Tigers could get scorching hot, like they did in 2011, surging to a 22-6 record and the AL Central title. (They’re not doing that this year, though.) Or they could crater like they did in 2019, going 8-20 to lock up the No. 1 overall pick. (They’re not doing that, either.)
So what word can we use this week, since you ruled out all the fun ones?
How about … hope?
Getting to the final month of the season at .500, even if it’s just a 16-16 record with a minus-21 run differential that suggests the Tigers should be closer to the No. 1 pick than the final spot in the play… whoops, almost fell for that… Anyway, the Tigers are in contention, and that’s a reason to hope for the future, whether it’s this season or next, especially if they can get through the season’s final big holiday …
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TRADE DEADLINE DAY!
The Tigers have won three straight series and seven of their past nine games! BUY BUY BUY!
No, wait, the Tigers already had a nine-game losing streak and are just hitting the hard part of their schedule! SELL SELL SELL?
So what should Al Avila and the Tigers do today before 4 p.m. (give or take a few fax-related delays, eh, Mr. Verlander)? Well, the Freep’s Evan Petzold talked over the weekend with Avila, who confirmed: “We’ll keep trying to win.” Bold words from the guy ostensibly paid to start doing that one of these days.
Avila certainly didn’t sound like a man with farm-system talent burning a hole in his pocket, unlike his striped polo-wearing predecessor, but the Tigers could still make some moves at the deadline. Click here to find out the most likely candidates.
Party at the CoPa, Part I
One guy not going anywhere: Miguel Cabrera. The 37-year-old joined an exclusive club Sunday, becoming the eighth player with 2,000 hits as a Tiger, when he singled off Kenta Maeda in the first inning. The Twins starter is one of 1,046 pitchers to allow a hit to Cabrera since he joined the franchise in 2008. Cabrera joins Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Harry Heilmann, Sam Crawford, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, which is pretty much a who’s who of Detroit hitting greats. Click here to find out how each of them joined the franchise’s elite.
Party at the CoPa, Part II
Another guy not going anywhere? Tarik Skubal. The 23-year-old picked up his first career win with a solid six-inning outing in the back end of Saturday’s doubleheader. His reward: A beer shower. Our Man Petzold has the scoop here on what Skubal did differently in his third start to earn that hoppy deluge.
Party at the … Fifth Third Field?
Well, we don’t think they’re getting beer showers down in Toledo — Riley Greene still isn’t old enough to drink, last we checked — but they are starting to feel the hope down at the Tigers’ “alternate training site,” as the Freep’s Jeff Seidel discovered in a chat with minor-league home run king Mike Hessman.
Rick-rolled
Of course, navigating that jump from Toledo to the majors — in 2020 or a normal season — requires a lot of help from the coaching staff, and no coach in the Tigers organization is more in the spotlight than pitching coach Rick Anderson. Our Man Petzold checked in with his students — young and old — to see how they feel about his work so far (for subscribers only).
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TWWTW: The (once again not-so-much) Weak Week That Was
Let’s scroll through this week’s reruns:
[ Monday: “The One in Which Casey Mize Learned A Valuable Lesson (And Got A Haircut)”. ]
[ Tuesday: “The One in Which Spencer Turnbull Found His Mantra.” ]
[ Wednesday: “The One in Which Joe Jimenez Is No Longer The Closer.” ]
[ Thursday: “The One in Which Ron Gardenhire Gained A New Appreciation for Jackie Robinson Day” ]
[ Friday: “The One in Which It Rained (And Ron Gardenhire DID NOT Talk Contract Extension).” ]
[ Saturday: “The One in Which Matthew Boyd Looked Good Again.” ]
[ Sunday: “The One in Which Miggy Was Good and Mize-y Was Not.” ]
Mark your calendar
After a week with a couple impromptu days off, the Tigers will get to enjoy the one week the MLB schedule makers didn’t overload with games; their two-game series in Milwaukee on Tuesday and Wednesday is sandwiched between two honest-to-gawd off-days. Of course, that’s followed by a stretch of 12 games — 10 of them on the road — in 10 days. That brutal stretch begins Friday with five games in four days against the Twins, who will likely be looking to extract some revenge after this weekend’s sweep in Detroit. There’s one Twin in particular who should be happy to see the Tigers: designated hitter Nelson Cruz. Only one active player — the Royals’ Alex Gordon, with 25 — has more homers off Tigers pitching than Cruz, who sits at 23 after going deep in each end of Saturday’s doubleheader.
(And while we’re on the subjects of Rick Anderson and the Twins, here’s a look back at some of the top talent he taught from 2002-14 in Minnesota.)
Happy birthday, Midseason Trade Cautionary Tale!
If the Tigers’ Cabrera trade in 2008 (Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and four guys you don’t remember*) is the argument for dealing prospects when proven talent is available (albeit in the offseason), their Aug. 12, 1987, trade for Doyle Alexander is the argument against it.
Alexander, who turns 70 on Friday, was key in the Tigers’ run to the ’87 AL East title, thanks to a 9-0 record and 1.53 ERA. He even made the All-Star Game with the Tigers the next season before finishing up with a 6-18 season in 1989 that wasn’t that bad.
It’s just that in order to get him, the Tigers had to give up a local prospect out of Lansing — a kid by the name of John Smoltz, who then spent 20 seasons with the Atlanta Braves and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. (Here’s the link if you want to imagine Smoltz in a Tigers uniform.)
Other Tigers birthdays: John Hicks (31 on Monday), Ramon Santiago (41 on Monday), Hideo Nomo (52 on Monday), Nate Robertson (43 on Thursday), Luis Gonzalez (53 on Thursday),
*TL;DR
The four other guys sent to Miami in the Cabrera trade? Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Frankie De La Cruz and Mike Rabelo. They, plus Miller and Maybin, combined for 0.9 WAR with the Marlins, according to baseball-reference.com. Cabrera has 51.0 WAR by himself with the Tigers. (And Dontrelle Willis, of course, had minus-1.1 WAR.)
Good luck, Mr. Avila!
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter. Oh, and the Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here’s how you can gain access to our most exclusive Detroit Tigers content.