June 7th Will Go Down As The Day The Tigers Mount Their Resurgence In 2012!
By: Scott Anderson
This seems like a ridiculous, over-confident statement, yet the team is due to make some positive moves in the Central Division. Basically it comes down to this with the Tigers, they CAN'T be this bad. Seriously, they can't. There's too much fire power in the lineup and the pitching should be good enough, that on most days they should win.
Injuries have been a huge part of the problem, but with Austin Jackson's impending return to the lineup and Quintin Berry's surprising contribution, this team has a much different look, one that we haven't seen in my lifetime. Frankly, it's a look that we still haven't seen because Jackson and Berry haven't played together yet. But, when they do, I would expect plenty of more opportunities for the boys to drive in runners as these two should be all over the base paths. The Tigers haven't had two legitimate base stealing threats like this in a long, long time.
The big question is, who gets sent down when Jackson comes back up? If Boesch shows signs of waking up, he'll be in the lineup and perhaps Berry goes to Leftfield. If Brennan doesn't, then it might be time for him to work out the kinks in Toledo. The secondary question is, what happens when Dirks comes back too?
That will be a dilemma and one that throws Delmon Young in the mix too. Perhaps a trade is in the near future or simply that Berry becomes a late inning replacement and pinch runner. Though, I feel that with his speed and defensive abilities, he should stay in the lineup until he proves undeserving at the plate.
Interleague play is on the immediate horizon, and that provides the boys with a chance to get healthy in the win column as they've been pretty good under Leyland against the Senior Circuit. Let's hope winning series' becomes habit forming while coinciding with struggles from the Tribe and Sox.
