Detroit Tigers: 5 reasons to still watch in 2015 (VIDEOS)

Aug 2, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Daniel Norris (44) pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

#1: A Glimpse of the Future

Sunday was a good day for the Detroit Tigers’ future as Daniel Norris pitched a great game in his first effort for his new team.

This is a kid who has very minimal big league experience, has not pitched in MLB since April, made an incredible diving play and cruised through one of the toughest lineups in baseball in the Baltimore Orioles. He looked like a seasoned veteran and someone the Tigers will be relying upon for years to come.

Down on the farm in Erie, JaCoby Jones made his presence felt with an incredible performance with three home runs to help the SeaWolves win their game. Not only is that impressive but one homer went to left field, one to center, and one to right!

With a week or two like that, Jones may be promoted to Toledo for the minor leagues final two weeks and then perhaps brought up to Detroit in the roster expansion on September 1.

Now they won’t always have great days, there will be growing pains and we’ve seen great debuts here tarnished by diminishing returns, so we won’t buy 2016 World Series tickets just yet,

Certainly we as fans would rather have the team getting ready for a playoff run in September,  but for the first time we will likely see September call-ups get a very serious look on a (probably) non-contending team.

Some of the new pieces in the organization may get a look in September while the ones that have been around for a longtime, like former #1 prospect (before the addition of Norris) Steven Moya, will get some time to see how they have evolved in the last year.

Sunday’s game in Baltimore was one of the most enjoyable games of the season. There was minimal bullpen interaction, a dominating start, good defense and hot hitting. These types of games were rare for the pre-rebooted Tigers.

Now with the reboot, and the pressure being off, perhaps they might be a little more common.

Next: MCB TigerTalk, Looking to the future