Detroit Tigers Links: Evan Reed investigation update, Avila’s potential, missing Prince & Torii’s botched bunt

Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Tigers reliever Evan Reed cooperating in probe of alleged sex assault, attorney says – Eric D. Lawrence- Detroit Free Press

"Evan Reed and his attorneys, David Gorcyca and Ben Gonek, have been fully cooperating with the Detroit Police Department since the inception of the investigation. Although Evan was under no legal obligation to make a statement, Evan voluntarily appeared at the Detroit Police Department and told the investigators what exactly transpired on March 29th and 30th,” the statement said.Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said Reed came in today to talk and said he was very cooperative. He would not elaborate on the investigation other than to say that police will forward their findings to the prosecutor’s office when they are finished."

This investigation began last week, but Detroit Police waited until Reed returned from the team’s west coast trip before questioning him.

Detroit Tigers will not reach potential offensively until Alex Avila reaches his – Chris Iott, MLive

"Those who say Avila has no potential to be an offensive threat are ignoring large chunks of history. Avila was an All-Star and earned Most Valuable Player votes in 2011, when he hit .295 with 19 home runs, 82 RBIs and an .895 OPS. He hit .303 with an .876 OPS after the All-Star break last season.Avila also has gone through extremely long dry spells that have been impossible to ignore. His numbers in the first half of 2013 — he had a .177 average with a .572 OPS — were awful. The 2012 season he put together — he hit .243 with 48 RBIs — was puzzling based on how he performed the previous year.Avila has a good eye at the plate and draws a good number of walks even when he struggles. Heading into the game Wednesday night, Avila was averaging 4.64 pitches per plate appearance, the highest number for any Tigers player with 12 or more at-bats. He drew his team-leading fifth walk in the game."

Up until yesterday’s win in which the Detroit Tigers scored seven runs (although those runs were aided by two Indians’ errors), Detroit’s offense has sputtered. Had Avila been struggling to this degree and the rest of the offense had been clicking, it might not be as big of an issue–but the Tigers NEED Avila’s bat. Defensively, he had a nice play throwing out a would-be stealer to end the 8th inning yesterday, but earlier he failed to grab the ball thrown by Torii Hunter and tag the guy coming home (though its debatable if the runner would have scored even if Alex held on). Simply put, Avila needs to be better all around.

Are the Detroit Tigers missing Rangers slugger Prince Fielder this season? – Dallas Morning News

"This season, Fielder is hitting .185 with 1 home run and four RBI’s in just 54 at-bats. He has struck out nine times and drawn seven walks in 14 games played. Although Samuelsen points out Fielder’s many flaws, he also says the Tigers need a powerful left-handed bat in the middle of their order and the big man could have filled that void."

The Tigers have more than their share of struggling hitters thus far, so I don’t think anyone misses another one in Prince Fielder. We’ll never know if Miguel Cabrera‘s early season struggles have been just a run of the mill slump or because Prince is no longer hitting behind him. I believe it’s the former and not the latter.

Detroit Tigers’ Torii Hunter botches sacrifice bunt in critical situation: ‘That’s probably why we lost’ – James Schmehl, MLive

"“I didn’t do my job,” Hunter said. “I should’ve got that bunt down. Once I got 0-2, just shoot the ball the other way so we could get the guys over. Unfortunately, he was right by the bag and got a double play out of it. That’s my bad. I messed up on that one.”It was a pivotal turning point for the Tigers, who seemed to be on the verge of breaking out after having managed to put just seven runners on base prior to the eighth inning.“I come to win,” Hunter said. “If my manager tells me to do something, I should be able to go out there and execute it, and I didn’t. That’s probably why we lost.”"

Bunt-gate was probably the first WTF moment for Brad Ausmus as a manager. Some understood it, others thought it was the worst thing to happen to the world since Brandon Inge was born. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, Ausmus should let his bigger bats swing away, however if asked, Torii Hunter needs to be able to lay down a bunt. He’s a pro and a veteran–that’s not too much to ask.