OT - Detroit Tigers on pace to go 162-0
Burning questions:
Are they the greatest team of all-time or just the greatest of the past 100 years?
Is Miguel Cabrera actually a long-lost relative of Harbaugh?
Has Harbaugh been seen doing any 3rd-base coaching in the D?
Can the bullpen actually hold it together?
will be painful for some people. So will the injuries.
Just enjoy a great start to the season, its a very long haul in what will turn out to be a very good division. Stay in the race and be ready to make a move or two at the deadline, then see what happens.
I'll be more than happy with 95-67..I love watching Cabrera hit, he's got it all, once in a generation hitter.
JD is on pace to hit 81 Home Runs.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
was the '84 'Bless You Boys'. They started the season 35-5 and never looked back.
The 2015 Tigers have been very impressive so far. The fact that call-up Kyle Lobstein didn't pitch his best today and the Tigers still won the game on the road speaks volumes.
Miguel looks superhuman right now...
April 13th, 2015 at 12:10 AM ^
after exploding to 35-5 over the first quarter of the season, they "coasted" over the other 3/4 of 1984 to a 104-58 season record. 69-53 over that period made them look vulnerable at season's end, but once the playoffs started they again dominated.
This team could be nearly as good if the pitching holds up. JV is the biggest question mark among the starters, but not the only one.
Can the Big Pasta repeat his performance of the last 2 seasons when his overall track record isn't all that great? Prior to the last 3 seasons in Cinci, he was pretty lousy in Baltimore for 4 seasons, with a WHIP of around 1.5 over his Orioles career.
I really like what I've seen of Shane Greene, that trade acquiring Greene might turn out to be one of Dombrowski's better ones. But the reality is that Greene in only in his 2nd MLB season and has to show that he can be a consistant back-of-the-rotation guy.
Price and Sanchez are one helluva 1-2 punch (as long as Sanchez stays off the DL, that is), and if Verlander can be nursed back to health by either the training staff or by Kate Upton and come back to pitch well, then this pitching staff has the potential to be somewhat comparable to the 2014 starting rotation.
I think the bullpen will be OK over the long haul, as long as Soria wins the closer's role ASAP. But a having Rondon get healthy and stay healthy would be as big a plus as demoting Nathan from closer. To both win the division and succeed in the playoffs, an "OK" bullpen won't be good enough---has to be better than that. This is Ausmus's biggest challenge, IMO.
The hitting is there (Miggy at .520, Igliasis .526, Kinsler .420, and practically everybody contributing). But no way I'm predicting 162 wins, or even 104. I'd be happy with 94, as that would all but guarantee the post-season. The Tigers are due, why not this season?
April 12th, 2015 at 10:34 PM ^
9-0; 16-1; 26-4; 35-5
This year's team doesn't have the relief pitching that the '84 team did, but the offense is just as good, and the starters are probably superior overall on this squad, esp. if Verlander can return to anything resembling his former form.
April 12th, 2015 at 11:00 PM ^
I remember very well 1984 when they started out 35-5 and won the World Series on my 16th birthday. The first picture I took with the Canon AE1-P I got as my present was of the TV: Tiger fans were climbing the light poles in Detroit.
I can't remember how many wins they opened with that year, though. 13?
April 12th, 2015 at 11:57 PM ^
April 13th, 2015 at 12:27 AM ^
this guy: 
or this guy:
?
Or do we have a third turd on MGoBlog, potentially this guy: 
?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
April 13th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
I'll eat a lemon.
April 13th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
But the hurricane is named Harbaugh
April 13th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^
going to go 35-5 because you just don't DO that.,
But they are certainly playing really well. The key will keeping people healthy, especially Miggy, V-Mart, Sanchez and Price. Having Verlander be Verlander again would be huge. Bullpen is a question mark as always but there are some signs of life there.
And please, no one wake J.D. Martinez up and remind him that the worst team in baseball cut him just last season during spring training.
April 13th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
Fast starts are great, but this organization did nothing in the offseason to improve the bullpen, lost arguably it's best starting pitcher to free agency, and their best everyday player has not proven to be very durable the last couple of seasons. Talk to me in the middle of August.
In the mean time, enjoy the hot streak while it lasts, because it never does.
April 13th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
True, but KC is also on pace to go 162-0.
This pennant race is heating up!
Except my Royals have something to say about the Tigers going undefeated. After years and years of mediocrity (not even mediocrity, more like brown bags), the Royals are primed to make another great run like they did last year. Sure we lost a lot of power, but our pitching is still nasty and we play great small ball. It's early, but KC fans are still excited from the carryover.
If the offense doesn't pick up today, I propose snarling wolverine gets a trip to Bolivia. Or at least a negbang.
Who is Gerrit Cole? The Tigers have a way of making new pitchers look good sometimes. They can look like world-beaters and knock out a good top-notch MLB pitcher, then get shut out for 7 innings by a rookie.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
You jinxed it!! Damn you!
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Get thee behind me, jinxer of the baseball season.
139 - 23