Before the start of the season, there was a lot of optimism among Detroit Tigers fans after watching the team sign Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Andrew Chafin, among others, to long-term contracts.
Of course, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene were also supposed to take the league by storm as rookies; Akil Baddoo and Robbie Grossman were expected to show a similarly good level as last year, and the young studs in the rotation, headlined by Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Matt Manning were apparently ready to carry the pitching staff.
Most of those things haven’t happened, and the team is dead last in the American League Central division with a lousy 9-23 record.
MLB reporter Anthony Castrovince wrote, via Twitter, that the Tigers are dangerously close to the suddenly-surging Cincinnati Reds, who still own the majors’ worst record.
“I don’t mean to alarm anybody, but the Tigers are only 2 games ahead of the Reds…,” he tweeted.
The Tigers Are Dangerously Close To Being The Worst Team In MLB
MLB.com’s Tigers reporter, Jason Beck, wrote that “this is now a game and a half pending Reds game at Pittsburgh this evening. At 9-23, Tigers have also matched their start thru 32 games last season.”
This is now a game and a half pending Reds game at Pittsburgh this evening. At 9-23, Tigers have also matched their start thru 32 games last season. https://t.co/YkgpR26eMt
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) May 12, 2022
In 2021, the Tigers were lousy from the start, but had a positive record the rest of the way and were able to finish close to .500, at 77-85.
The 2022 Tigers opened the season looking at least as competitive as the other four teams in the division, but the wheels have fallen off recently.
They have lost three straight and nine of their last ten games, and look clueless and out of answers.
Hopefully they can pick up the pace, just like last year, but the possibility of fighting for a playoff spot is starting to look remote.
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