Don’t get me wrong. The trends are very good right now, but the numbers don’t lie either. After the first 18 games (one “inning”) the Tigers were 4.5 games back in 3rd place. After the next 18 games (2 innings) the Tigers are 5.5 games back in 3rd place.
Yet, there are indications that what was planted in the spring is about to give fruit as summer approaches. Let’s look at some key numbers.
• 10-8 -The Tigers played .556 ball for this inning.
• 12 –The number of errors the Tigers committed this inning.
• 10-4 –The Starters record this inning with a WHIP of 1.11
• 3 –The number of walks taken by Tigers’ batters per game this inning.
• 7.8 –The number of strikeouts by Tigers’ batters per game this inning.
• 4.78 –Runs scored per game this inning (up from 4.22 last inning).
• 3.89 –Runs allowed per game this inning (down from 5.17 last inning).
Let’s look at those last two numbers again. The batters have found some mojo, especially in the last week. For the Inning they have hit for a better average (.266 vs. .244) and slightly more power (OPS of .731 vs .707). This has translated to a more RBI, 16 more for this Inning (or almost .9 runs per game). See how easy this is? If you put more runners on you can score more runs! Of course the infamous “Tigers threaten, but do not score” is still heard throughout the land all too often.
But averaging 4.8 runs per game will not win all that many games (there is a 7 game losing streak in the middle of this Inning to prove that). So how do you win more games? Look at the last number on the list- 3.89 runs per game. While the batters had their struggles, the pitchers were often dominating games, especially the starters. The Starters allowed only 40 earned runs in 18 games. That is only 2.2 per game. They also pitched 120 1/3 innings. That is 6 2/3 innings per start. In short, the Tigers are dominating opposing lineups. There were 5 games this Inning where 0 earned runs were allowed by the starter. 0! In almost 30% of the games! There were only 2 games where 5 or more runs were allowed. It isn’t only Verlander either, they all did it at least once.
One number which stands out from the Starters’ line is walks per 9 innings (BB/9). For the first 18 games it was 4.0 and for the last 18 games it has dropped to 2.4. That is 1 1/2 fewer baserunners with chances to score. It’s a minimum of 8 few pitches that have to be thrown. It’s just better baseball.
So what changed? I’m just a compiler of data, I can’t tell you what happened inside of people’s heads. I can look at these numbers and say that the starting pitching was much better in Inning 2 than it was in Inning 1. I can say that the lineup was on base more often and that allowed for more RBI. Beyond that, I can tell you that it is more fun to watch your team win than it is to watch them lose. The Tigers had bookend on this Inning of winning streaks and a nasty losing streak of 7 games in the middle. But after 36 games they are still very much in the race and chasing the suddenly amazing Indians. It looks to be a good summer!
