Detroit Tigers: Good Signs For the Rest of 2016

Detroit Tigers fans are frustrated after another poor starting pitching performance doomed the team on Thursday. Despite that, the Tigers have a number of things going for them that will prove beneficial later.

Detroit Tigers baseball has gotten off to a fairly successful start. Despite some less-than-stellar performances from the starting pitchers, the team is 8-6 and only 1.5 games out of first place in the loaded American League Central.

The Tigers are poised for a return to the postseason this season. There are a number of early factors and trends that should help the team return to October baseball. Detroit’s balanced offensive attack will help, as will superstars like Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Justin Upton. The trio are struggling, but will turn it around. They’re simply too good to struggle this much.

What’s more, the team has done well on the road so far and has posted a solid run differential. If the Tigers can continue to fare well in both categories, Detroit will thrive this season.

Perhaps the most important good sign moving forward is the improved depth. If someone gets hurt or struggles, there are replacements waiting in the wings.

Here are five good signs for the rest of 2016 that will eventually help the Tigers make it back to the postseason.

A Varied Offensive Attack

As it stands, Detroit currently sits third in Major League Baseball in batting average. As a team, the Tigers are hitting an impressive .273. What’s more, Brad Ausmus’ club is seventh in the league in runs per game.

These numbers have come thanks to a well-balanced offense. Ian Kinsler serves as the team’s catalyst at the top of the order. Kinsler paces the team in hits (23), runs scored (13) and doubles (three). He’s also second on the team with four home runs and 12 RBI.

In addition to the hot-hitting second baseman, Jose Iglesias, J.D. Martinez, Nick Castellanos and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are all off to torrid starts. All but Salty are hitting over .320. Not to be outdone, the backstop has a team-leading five home runs and 14 RBI.

The most encouraging thing about the quartet’s strong start is that it could be sustainable on all accounts. It wouldn’t shock anyone to see Iglesias and Martinez maintain batting averages that sit north of .300.

Additionally, Castellanos seems to be taking significant steps forward in the batter’s box. He probably isn’t going to hit .347 all season, but somewhere in the .280 to .300 neighborhood isn’t out of the question—especially if he can start demolishing off-speed pitches the way he does first-pitch fastballs.

Saltalamacchia has never hit above .280 in a season before in his career. However, he did hit .273 with Boston when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2013.

The way Salty is hitting, it would seem odd to suddenly cut off all his playing time in favor of a healthy McCann. A platoon would probably be the best case scenario. It would allow Salty to only bat against right-handed pitching—his .253 career average against righties is .42 points higher than his lifetime average against lefties—while McCann would see action against predominantly left-handed pitching. The 25-year-old crushes lefties to the tune of .297.

This scenario would give Salty a better chance at maintaining his high batting average.

Road Warriors

The Detroit Tigers have opened play in 2016 with a majority of road games. The opening series saw the Tigers in South Beach to do battle with the Marlins. After that, the team returned for four games at home split between the Yankees and Pirates. That four-game set, which should have been five games if a contest against New York was postponed, ended on April 12^th. The Tigers haven’t been back to Detroit since.

An eight-game road trip followed the home stand. It saw the team travel to Pittsburgh, Houston and Kansas City to match up with a trio of playoff teams from a year ago. Detroit swept the Pirates at PNC Park before dropping two of three against both the Astros and Royals.

Despite that, only the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox have more road wins in all of Major League Baseball than the Tigers this season.

Detroit’s schedule now enters a much more manageable stage of the schedule. The team will finish up April with home series against Cleveland and Oakland before ending the month in Minnesota. All three rank near the bottom of the league in offense. The trio rank 24^th, 25^th and 27^th respectively in runs scored.

The Tigers have also had Cleveland’s number in recent seasons, not to mention the fact that Detroit will be playing at home once again. Oakland is 9-7 on the season, but the team’s putrid offense (just a .283 team on-base percentage) could benefit Ausmus’ pitching staff.

Last on the docket is the Twins, who are tied for the worst record in the American League, and also own the second worst run differential in the junior circuit.

Run Differential

Entering play on Friday, the Detroit Tigers possessed the third-highest run differential in the American League at +10.

Despite five teams owning a better record in the AL, Detroit remains near the front of the pack where run differential is concerned. The team is only one lopsided, blowout victory from overtaking the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles for the best run differential in the junior circuit.

Last season in the American League, the top four—and five of the top six— teams in run differential made the playoffs. In fact, Detroit finished last season with what was by far the worst differential (-114) in the league. Chicago was the next closest team at -79.

If the Tigers can keep the run differential in the green and at a relatively high number, the team will be in excellent shape moving forward.

With a high-powered offense and an improved bullpen, Detroit should be able to maintain a high run differential. Additionally, the team has achieved this number despite Justin Verlander and Shane Greene posting ERAs north of seven. Verlander’s ERA won’t be anywhere near that high, while Greene will likely be replaced by either Norris, Boyd or Fulmer if he continues to post a high earned run average.

Much Improved Depth

Last year saw the Detroit Tigers play dearly for a lack of minor league depth.

During the 2015 season, the team went through a staggering 47 players, including 26 different pitchers, 21 position players, 12 starting pitchers, 10 infielders and seven outfielders. The depth (or lack thereof) compiled by Dave Dombrowski simply couldn’t compete.

Ian Krol, Jefry Marte, Neftali Feliz, Hernan Perez, Kyle Lobstein, Marc Krauss, Guido Knudson and Daniel Fields were among a large group of players that couldn’t help fill in for injured and traded players like Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Yoenis Cespedes and David Price.

This season, the depth is much improved. New general manager has been especially diligent in accumulating starting pitching depth. His moves to sign Jordan Zimmermann and Mike Pelfrey have pushed the likes of Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Michael Fulmer to Triple-A Toledo. Should Pelfrey and Shane Greene continue to struggle, Norris, Boyd or Fulmer could get an extended look this season.

Dipping into Toledo’s pitching staff proved to be a disaster for Detroit last season, but this season should bring about different results.

Norris showed flashes of potential in limited action last year, while Boyd and Fulmer have impressed for Lloyd McClendon’s squad after showing potential in Spring Training. Boyd owns a 2.25 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 innings, while Fulmer’s ERA is a sparkling 0.82 in 11 innings. The top prospect has also posted an encouraging 14 strikeouts compared to just four free passes.

What’s more, Avila has stocked the Toledo roster with a number of players who could contribute if called upon. Casey McGehee, Bobby Parnell, Nate Schierholtz, Lucas Harrell and Humberto Quintero all have extensive Major League experience, while Thad Weber, Preston Guilmet and Drake Britton all have been on big league rosters.

Next: Breaking Down the Detroit Tigers' Upcoming Schedule

If Detroit needs to call up players from Triple-A, things will end much differently this season.