Detroit Tigers Opening Day 2016: 3 Things to Know

The Detroit Tigers are back and looking to reclaim the American League Central. Before that happens, they’ll have to deal with the Marlins on Opening Day. Here are three things to know.

Detroit Tigers season is upon us, and that means Opening Day is here. Rejoice! The long winter is over and baseball is finally back. The Tigers open the season in Miami to take on the Marlins in a battle of teams that finished last season with fewer than 80 wins.

However, while Detroit has improved immensely, the Marlins haven’t. The Miami’s most significant offseason addition was Wei-Yin Chen. After that, you could make the case that infielder Chris Johnson was the next biggest addition, which tells you all you need to know about the current state of the Marlins. The team is rebuilding, but is stocked with a number of veteran players that aren’t part of the long term outlook.

Manager Brad Ausmus’ team will be looking to get back on track after a disastrous 2015 season, and having a strong start to 2016 will be a big step in the right direction.

Here are three things to know about Detroit’s Opening Day contest against the Miami Marlins.

Wei-Yin Chen is Starting for Miami, and He Struggles Against Detroit

The Marlins are starting high-profile offseason addition Wei-Yin Chen ahead of obvious ace Jose Fernandez in an effort to keep the 23-year-old’s innings under control.

Chen has had a solid career to date. In four years with the Baltimore Orioles, he won 46 games while posting a 3.72 ERA and a cumulative 10 WAR. Last season was perhaps his best with career-best numbers in the ERA (3.34) and WAR (3.8) departments. The 30-year-old also won 11 games in what would be his final season in Baltimore

However, despite all that success, Chen has struggled mightily in three career starts against Tigers.

In those three starts, which have totaled 14.1 innings pitched, the left-hander has surrendered 19 hits, 12 runs (all earned) and five home runs. If you’re doing the math at home, that equates to a .317 batting average against and a sky-high 7.53 ERA.

Of all the Detroit players to have faced the former Baltimore pitcher in the past, Ian Kinsler has found the most success. The second baseman (who will be hitting when the two teams square off) is a .417 hitter in 12 at-bats against Chen. He’s only managed a single RBI, but he’s shown he can get on base.

J.D. Martinez and James McCann both have home runs off the Miami pitcher. Additionally, Anthony Gose and Mike Aviles have also added RBI in previous matchups with Chen.

Victor Martinez as a Pinch Hitter

When the team’s lineup was announced for Opening Day, the Detroit Tigers continued the tradition of having a “Martinez” hit just behind Miguel Cabrera in the cleanup slot in the order. However, today it will be J.D. and not Victor Martinez.

With the game taking place in Miami and not in Detroit, the pitcher will hit. The Tigers obviously won’t have use of the designated hitter, meaning the man known as V-Mart will start the day on the bench.

The veteran obviously isn’t starting, but could see action as a pinch hitter. He doesn’t have stellar numbers against Miami relievers Craig Breslow (2-for-12) or Edwin Jackson (5-for-25), but he’s collected RBI against both pitchers in the past. What’s more, he has dominated fellow Marlins Dustin McGowan and found success in limit plate appearances against Chris Naverson. Martinez is 7-for-9 lifetime with a double, a home run and six RBI against McGowan. He’s registered a double, a walk and two RBI in two plate appearances versus Naverson.

Even against someone like Breslow or Jackson, the designated hitter likely provides a better pinch-hitting alternative compared to the team’s other bench options such as Tyler Collins, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Aviles or Andrew Romine.