Maybe Polanco and the Tigers should lean in to some pitches in order to get some baserunners (Bill Richardson/BDD)
Thus far in the still very young 2008 season, the offense that "experts" everywhere predicted would break all sorts of scoring records has been, for lack of a better term, pathetic.
The 2008 Detroit Tigers were supposed to topple the 1000 runs scored mark with ease this season. But in an unexpected turn of events, they have scored the lowest number of runs in all of baseball with only 15 in seven games. A measly 2.1 runs per game.
This is an ironic turn of events considering it was their pitching staff that was the biggest concern heading into the season. Of course their pitching staff hasn't been much better posting a 5.20 ERA over this stretch. But given the fact that they have only scored a little over two runs per game, the pitching staff would have to be virtually perfect in order to come away with a winning record.
And the Tigers are as far from a winning record as you can get at this point. They're 0-7.
It's not hard to figure out why their offense is so punch-less right now as they only have two players with 20+ at-bats with an average over .270 (Carlos Guillen at .320 and Brandon Inge, the guy they originally didn't have room for, at .286). In fact, here's a look at the top half of their lineup:
Edgar Renteria: .194/.219/.194, 1 RBI
Placido Polanco: .115/.179/.115, 0 RBI
Gary Sheffield: .267/.476/.267, 1 RBI
Magglio Ordonez: .267/.267/.333, 0 RBI
Miguel Cabrera: .143/.308/.286, 1 HR, 1 RBI
As you can see, the first five hitters in their lineup have been dreadful thus far. And even scarier is their line vs. their opponents line:TEAM: .234/.308/.332, 15 R
OPPONENTS: .278/.366/.452, 44 R
The Tigers had better learn how to score some runs fast before they dig themselves too deep of a hole. After all, at this rate the Royals will end up running away with the division.
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