Looking At The Detroit Tigers At The Quarter-Pole
We are about 1/4 of the way through the 2023 regular season in Major League Baseball (MLB). And with the Detroit Tigers 8-0 loss on Wednesday to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park, the Tigers are exactly at the quarter-pole with 41 of the 162 regular season games being played.
With that being said, now is a good time to take some time and analyze what the Tigers have done so far in 2023. Both good and bad. Let's start with their won-loss record.
After Wednesday's loss to Pittsburgh, the Tigers sit at 19-22 after 41 games. That's good for 2nd place in the American League Central, 3 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Not great, but better than a lot of people thought they would be at this point.
The fact that the Tigers are in second place in the division with a sub-.500 record tells you all you need to know about the strength of the AL Central. It is by far, the worst division in baseball. Kansas City is awful, and the Chicago White Sox are maybe baseball's biggest disappointment. The Cleveland Guardians are mediocre (just like the Tigers) and the division-leading Minnesota Twins have had their issues as well.
Let's look at the good so far:
The Good With The Detroit Tigers In 2023
And now, the bad:
The Bad With The Detroit Tigers In 2023
As much as I have criticized manager A.J. Hinch (pictured above), he deserves credit for getting this team as good as it has gotten so far. And his benching of shortstop Javier Baez during a game in Toronto in April due to multiple mental errors set the tone for this season.
Where do they go going forward? Who the heck knows?