Detroit Tigers Top 5 Spring Training Story Lines

Jun 10, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics left fielder

(52) fields the ball during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

#2 Defense Improvement?

A year ago we thought the defense would be a lot better, but that never materialized.

A lot of that had to do with the loss of Jose Iglesias early on, but everyone not named Alex Avila or Ian Kinsler (and possibly Miggy who doesn’t get the credit for being decent first baseman) seemed to underachieve on the diamond.

With Iglesias seemingly back, Anthony Gose platooning in center, Torii Hunter no longer in right and Yoenis Cespedes’ cannon arm in left, signs point to a large jump in defensive skills.

It would be hard to argue that the Tigers have regressed in two areas: starting pitching and hitting. The loss of Scherzer and Rick Porcello will hurt unless Shane Greene and Alfredo Simon can each have career years. The hitting is a huge question mark with the health of the three and four hitters in the lineup.

Therefore the team will need to makeup runs somewhere. Spring Training will tell us if the defense has what it takes to help out the shortcomings of other areas on the team.