2006 Tigers- Post-Mortem (hitters)

 Looking at the lineup:

Rodriguez: 3.0 WAR, 101 OPS

Shelton: 1.8 WAR, 106 OPS +

Polanco: 0.9 WAR, 73 OPS +

Guillen: 6.2 WAR, 129 OPS +

Aurilia: 4.5 overall WAR, 121 OPS +

Thames: 2.5 WAR, 122 OPS +

Suzuki: 0 for the season WAR, 77 OPS +

Ordonez: 1.7 WAR, 106 OPS +

Denorfia: 0.9 WAR, 98 OPS +

The data would suggest a lot of empty calories as far as the homers go, at least from Shelton and Ordonez. Most surprising to me is Ichiro as a below average outfielder offensively. He didn't add anything really to the lineup, although he did qualify as an improvement over Granderson. 5 out of the 9 lineup spots are 110 or below OPS +

2006 Tigers Update- after Twins Series. It's almost over.

Dates: 9/7/06- 9/10/06

Result: LWLL

Record: 76-69

Overall impression: Getting shutout in the last game seems fitting, since the Tigers seem to be on their way to being shut out of the playoffs. Brutal September so far (4-6), and a shame considering the opportunity they had. Remaining schedule alternates between awful teams (KC and the White Sox) and first place teams (Toronto).

Division: 3rd place, 9.5 games back

Wild Card: 4.5 games back

AL Picture:

1) LA

2)  Min/Tor

3)  Tor/Min

WC: Oak/NY tied

In the hunt: Cleveland, Detroit (but chances are slim now)

NL Picture:

1) NYM

2) Ari

3)  Hou

WC: Phi

In the hunt: 

LAD

Slipping away:

Florida

2006 Tigers Update- New York Yankees series

This is a pivotal series! 

Situating the Tigers:

Record: 70-62

Division: 4.5 games back of Twins, .5 back of Indians

Wild Card: 4 games back of Yankees, behind Indians and As.

This is also the last series before roster expansion. We'll get into September schedule after this series, but if the Tigers are going to make noise, it's now or never.

Result: Series win! WLW

Pitchers: Rogers, Miner + bullpen, Bonderman

Good: Rogers steadies the ship in game one, leading to win. Bullpen solid. Ichiro has homer and triple. Bonderman solid outing in game three

Bad: The Miner/Ledezma tandem can't handle the Yankees and the offense doesn't do much in game two, meaning that at best the Tigers break even as far as the WC standings go.

Heading into September, here's the breakdown:

Record: 72-63

Division: 5.5 games back, as Minnesota's gotten hot

Wild Card: 3 games back of New York

AL Picture:

1) LA

2) Toronto

3) Minnesota

WC: NY

In the hunt:

Cleveland

Detroit

Oakland

NL Picture:

1) NYM

2) Arizona

3) Houston

WC:Philly

In the hunt:

LAD

Slipping away:

Florida

Cincy

Atlanta

2006 Tigers Update- White Sox Series

August 21-24

Home

Result: LLWW

Good: Rogers rights the ship with a great performance. Offense kicks in in game three.

Bad: The pitching continues to implode in game one and game two. Nobody's listed on "Who's Hot" list.

Record: 69-60

Standings: 

2.5 games behind Twins in division, 3 games behind Yankees in WC race.

AL playoff picture:

1) Blue Jays

2) Angels

3) Twins

WC) Yankees

In the hunt:

 

Tigers

Indians

Athletics

NL Playoff picture:

1) Mets

2) Diamondbacks/Dodgers

3) Astros

WC: Phillies

In The Hunt:

Reds

Dodgers

Rockies

2006 Update- After Rangers series

 August 17-20, 2006

Home

Result: Series loss LLWL

Standings: 67-58 record

Two games back of Twins in division, two behind Yankees for wild card

The Tigers are now 9-10 in August,3-3 in series.

Tigers are trending downward with rotation showing cracks and strong bullpen fading.

AL playoff picture:

1)  Blue Jays

2)  Angels

3)  Twins

WC: Yankees

In the hunt:

 

Tigers

Indians

Athletics

Orioles

NL Playoff picture:

1) Mets

2) Astros

3)  Dodgers

WC- Phillies

In the hunt:

Braves

Marlins

Reds

Rockies

Diamondbacks

2006 Tigers Update- after Red Sox series

August 14-16, 2006

in Boston

Result: Series win, LWW

The good and bad:

+: Two shutouts to end series, offense gets going

-: Miner has rough outing

Standings:

Tied with Twins in AL Central, 2 games ahead of Cleveland

The Tigers are now 8-7 in August,3-2 in series.

AL playoff picture:

1)  Angels

2)  Blue Jays

3)  Twins/Tigers

WC: Yankees

In the hunt:

Indians

Athletics

Orioles

NL Playoff picture:

1) Mets

2) Astros/Dodgers

3)  Dodgers/Astros

WC- Phillies

In the hunt:

Braves

Marlins

Reds

Rockies

Diamondbacks

06 Tigers Update- after Chicago White Sox series

August 11-13, 2006

Chicago

Result: Lose 2 of 3 to the White Sox

Rogers has rare bad outing in game 3 and Frets hits a bit of slump.

Standings:

1/2 game lead on both Minnesota and Cleveland

The Tigers are now 6-6 in August, 2-2 in series.

AL playoff picture:

1/2: Toronto/Los Angeles

3: Detroit

WC: New York Yankees

The Yankees have now clawed their way into the wild-card slot, which means that the AL Central runners-up would fall off the board.

In the hunt:

Minnesota

Cleveland

Oakland (fading a little)

Baltimore (fading a little)

NL Playoff picture:

1) Philly

2) LA

3) Houston

WC- New York Mets

In the hunt:

Atlanta

Florida

Cincinnati

Arizona

Colorado

2006 Tigers Update- after Twins series

 August 7-9, 2006

Result:

Series win

Record: 63-52

Division: 1st

Overall feeling: Uneasy following sweep by Indians, but Twins series more encouraging

Playoff picture:

AL: 

1- Angels

2- Blue Jays

3- Tigers

WC: Twins/Indians tie

NL:

1) Mets/Phillies

2) Diamondbacks/Dodgers

3) Astros

WC: Too muddled

2006 Tigers- Update

Standings:

Tied with Twins for first place

Trends:

Got swept by Indians. This division is going to be very rough.

Next up:

A series with those Twins.

Current playoff picture:

AL:

1) Los Angeles Angels

2) Toronto Blue Jays

3) Minnesota/Detroit

4) Detroit/Minnesota

In The Hunt:

Cleveland

Oakland

New York

Baltimore

NL:

1) Philadelphia

A jumble for the rest of the spots