By Jeff Moss
September 21, 2011
DetroitSportsRag@gmail.com
A lot of Tigers fans are under the misunderstanding that the reason the offense skyrocketed in August which helped the team go on an incredible run that culminated in the AL Central title was the arrival of Delmon Young from Minnesota.
Dave Dombrowski acquired the former first overall pick from the Twins on August 15th and since that trade the Tigers have a ridiculous record of 25-9.
So you can understand why a Tigers fan might credit the new acquisition for the team’s recent success.
But the truth is the team basically made a lateral move when Young arrived in Motown. Because around the same time of his arrival, the Tigers lost outfielder Brennan Boesch for the season.
In fact, Boesch had only 23 at-bats AFTER the deal for Dmitri Young’s younger and better blood sugar regulated sibling.
So let’s take a look at both outfielder’s splits in 2011 with the Olde English D on their jersey:
Young: .285/.301/.446/.747
Boesch: .283/.341/.458/.799
If anything, the swap of Boesch for Young has been a slight negative for the team as Young only has THREE WALKS since the deal.
The REAL reason the Tigers offense exploded around August 15th is because Young replaced Magglio Ordonez in the three hole of the Tigers everyday lineup.
You want to know why the offense dramatically increased since mid-August? Probably because a guy with a .629 OPS and a total lack of speed was no longer clogging up the most important spot in the batting order.
And it is a pretty good idea to get men on-base in front of Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez because, you know, they are the two best AL hitters with runners in scoring position. By far.
Here are the splits for Miggy and V-Mart with RISP:
Cabrera: .391/.524/.652/1.176
Martinez: .387/.434/.528/.962
I mean, those numbers are absolutely INSANE. The only thing crazier than those splits is the fact that Jim Leyland continues to insist on placing the team’s worst on-base percentage threats IN FRONT of two guys who are absolute RISP MACHINES!!!
Let’s just presume for a second that the Tigers will open the ALDS against the Red Sox and that Josh Beckett will start the opener for Boston.
It would be safe to assume that the three batters in front of Cabrera and Martinez will be Austin Jackson, Andy Dirks and Delmon Young.
Those three players have respective OBP’s of .316, .295 and .301. Or in other words, the THREE WORST GUYS AT GETTING ON-BASE ON THE TEAM WILL MOST LIKELY START A PLAYOFF GAME IN FRONT OF THE TWO BEST HITTERS IN THE AL WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION!
It is one thing to destroy a bunch of horrible American League Central teams with this inherently flawed batting order, but what is going to happen when the Tigers have to face a bonafide squad like the Red Sox?
Umm, well, uhh… Tampa could catch Boston and then we would have to face a legitimate MLB franchise with outstanding starting pitching.
The evidence of Cancer Stick’s horrid batting order decisions has never been more evident than when looking at Cabrera’s RBI and Run totals this season.
For the first time in his career, Cabrera is on pace to have more RUNS than RBI. I wonder if that has anything to do with Leyland’s continued insistence on placing the team’s best hitters at the bottom of his lineup.
And now that the Tigers have locked up the AL Central most of the Detroit sports media can’t wait to fellate Leyland for winning a division that if it was one of Sarah Palin’s children, it would surely be Trig.
Yep, a guy who keeps placing DON FUCKING KELLY (career OBP of .280!!!!) in the two-spot of a batting order should not only be named Manager of the Year, but given immediate access to the Hall of Fame.
And maybe you think I am overreacting because the Tigers have already won the Central and will be in the playoffs regardless of how they perform in the last week of the season.
And maybe you even believe that home-field advantage in baseball is overrated and not that big a deal.
But is there anyone in the world who has been paying attention to Major League Baseball in the last few weeks that wouldn’t prefer facing off with the Red Sox than the Yankees in the ALDS?
But is Cancer Stick putting any emphasis on staying ahead of the Texas Rangers for the second best division champion record? Of course not.
On Wednesday, Emaciated Adolf is going to treat the Tigers game against the Royals like it is a split-squad Grapefruit League matchup with Florida Atlantic by pitching both Max Scherzer and Doug Fister.
(Has someone told Leyland that Al Kaline’s grandson isn’t on the opposing squad?)
He will also be giving Cabrera the day off even though he adamantly wants to play for home-field advantage.
On Thursday, the Tigers will send Jacob Turner to the hill even though he has barely pitched in the last month.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Leyland has tickets to “The Book of Mormon” next weekend at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and he is purposely sabotaging the team’s chances so he can be in NYC to see the Tony Award winning musical.
But who in the Detroit media is going to question Cancer Stick on his recent moves? Half of the writers believe this moron should be the AL Manager of the Year.
The other half look like this:
Look, I am thrilled the Tigers are in the playoffs. I can’t wait until a week from Friday when the ALDS starts.
But I am hoping that despite Leyland’s asinine Spring Training-like maneuvers in the last week that the Tigers are at home hosting a Red Sox team that might not be as good as the Kansas City Royals right now.
If that makes me a miserable and hateful fan who is never happy about anything then so be it.
But for all of you fuckstick fans who are currently riding Leyland’s urine stained underwear right now, don’t come crying to me if we get beat by the Yankees in round one while the Rangers sweep Boston.