Detroit Tigers Links: Is J.D. for real, Porcello’s release point, Rotation key in turn around

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Is J.D. Martinez for real? – Rob Rogacki, Bless You Boys

So is J.D. Martinez for real? Unlike previous small sample wonders, his history suggests that there may be a chance. Martinez never made any top prospect lists while moving through the minor leagues, but his numbers speak for themselves. He put up a .937 OPS between Single- and Double-A in 2010 as a 22-year-old, then followed that up with a .959 OPS in Double-A in 2011 before his big league call-up. Overall, Martinez hit .332/.394/.548 in just under 1,500 minor league plate appearances. None of the small sample successes listed above hit even remotely as well as Martinez did in the minor leagues.

Yes, it’s a small sample. But as his minor league stats show, J.D. has the potential to be a real deal diamond in the rough. And honestly, even if Martinez fizzles and falters as Brennan Boesch and Matt Tuiasosopo did before him, shouldn’t he still be counted as a victory for the production he’s already provided? Can anyone honestly say they saw J.D. coming on the way he has? Well, maybe one person could, Dave Dombrowski.

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Porcello’s Release Point Slid, His Results Tumbled-  Neil Weinberg, New English D

Remember the first six weeks of the season? Those were simpler times. Let’s not talk about what’s gone wrong writ large. Let’s talk about one problem and it’s root cause. Rick Porcello was awesome through May 17. Don’t believe me? Here are numbers!

Weinberg dissects Porcello’s recent stats and looks into what is causing the bad habits Rick has formed that are causing him so much trouble as of late. 

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Analysis: Detroit Tigers are back on track because starting rotation has put them there – Chris Iott, MLive

For a month, the wheels were off. The starting rotation was abysmal, the offense inconsistent. But after a 10-4 win Sunday afternoon gave the Detroit Tigers a sweep of the Cleveland Indians, the Tigers are feeling better about themselves.

“I guess you could say the wheels are back on,” second baseman Ian Kinsler said Sunday. “Is that proper?”

It seems fair, not because a four-game winning streak erases the ills that plagued the Tigers from May 18 to June 18 — a stretch that saw the Tigers go 9-20 — but because the starting rotation seems to be, as Kinsler might say, “proper.”.

It’s really kind of hard to believe that 9-20 garbage pile of a skid only lasted a month(it felt like an eternity) but now that it’s over (pleasepleaseplease), it’s easy to get on board with Iott’s analysis. The rotation was a black hole of suck, therefore the team was a black hole of suck. All I can say is that it made me grateful to be a Tigers’ fan and so happy we have quality  starting pitching that goes through bad patches, not a bad rotation that is just always bad. Phew. Let’s just hope it’s really over