Another loss and the old angst is creeping back in for the Detroit Tigers. Gone is the good will of the four-game winning streak just before the trade deadline, when the Tigers manhandled the Diamondbacks. Now, Detroit has lost four of six games, and though most of the division sold off pieces last week, the once-commanding lead in the AL Central is now down to 6.0 games.
The Guardians, dinged by their own trades and haunted by a gambling controversy, have still won seven of eight and are 19-7 in their last 26 games. They were 15.5 games back a month ago, and they’ve shaved 9.5 games off that deficit in just 30 days.
Time for the Tigers to worry about winning the Central? Maybe, but manager AJ Hinch has another approach.
Tigers Need to ‘Worry About Ourselves’
Hinch warned his team that instead of checking the standings, players ought to be looking in the mirror.
“We better worry about ourselves,” Hinch said, per the Detroit Free-Press. “I don’t care if you have a one-game lead or a 20-game lead, if you don’t play good baseball, I’m going to sit up here and tell you we got to be better.”
The problems for the Tigers are many. They’ve milked their fast start to the season for months now, going 33-33 since May 22, and while they’ve lost key pitchers to injury (as every team in baseball has), they have done precious little to fill those innings with quality starters.
AJ Hinch: ‘Play Your 162’
The Tigers have a 4.45 ERA since the All-Star break, which is 11th-worst in baseball, and have struggled both among starters after Tarik Skubal and among the relief corps. So there are pitching concerns.
Hinch said no matter how aware the media is about the team’s sliding spot in the Central, talk about winning the division, or holding on to one of the top two spots in the AL, which would allow them to dodge a wild-card series, has not come from the manager or coaches.
“We haven’t once talked about anything external,” Hinch said. “I’ve been very, very consistent that you got to play your 162 (games), and we haven’t done it yet, and we’re going to, and we’re going to get tested.”
Tigers Striking Out — A Lot
But there are worries at the plate, too. The Tigers have struck out 171 times since the break, fourth-most of any team, and their swing-and-miss aggression is biting them.
As Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic pointed out, “Since the break, the Tigers lead MLB with a 25.9 percent strikeout rate. Worse, they also have the lowest walk rate of any team at only 4.7 percent.”
Hinch worries his hitters are trying to win games themselves in each at-bat.
“We’re trying to do too much,” Hinch said. “We’re trying to hit every pitch for damage. We’re trying to cover all sorts of shapes. When you try to do too much, it’s not a great recipe against any pitching that you face.”
Tigers’ AJ Hinch Has Stern Warning as AL Central Lead Plummets