Detroit Tigers: April Winners and Losers

Detroit Tigers baseball wraps up the first month of the season in Minnesota against the Twins. While the Tigers’ opponent has struggled, Detroit has largely had a successful April.

Detroit Tigers players shot out of the gate with six wins in the team’s first eight games. The Tigers notched wins over Wei-Yin Chen, Jose Fernandez, Luis Severino and Gerrit Cole during the eight-game stretch.

Those eight games also included four road wins in National League cities against both the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Following that stretch, the Tigers lost seven of nine. Those nine games included three-game sets in Houston and in Kansas City. All six games were close, but Detroit only came away with a pair of wins.

The Tigers returned home only to be swept by Cleveland. During the three-game series, the offense faltered. Detroit managed just five runs against the Indians.

Despite the losing stretch, Miguel Cabrera and company responded by taking three of four games against the Oakland Athletics. This was partly due to a reshuffling of the lineup by Brad Ausmus that saw J.D. Martinez moved to the second spot. Justin Upton dropped down in the order, taking his fellow outfielder’s place behind Victor Martinez.

The switch seems to be working. Detroit crushed Oakland pitching to the tune of 16 runs in 18 innings over the final two games against the A’s.

Ausmus has seen a number of players perform well, and a few players struggle. Here are the Detroit Tigers winners and losers from the month of April.

Winner: Jordan Zimmermann

Outside of possibly Ian Kinsler, Jordan Zimmermann has been the Detroit Tigers’ best player so far during the 2016 season. The marquee offseason signing has won each of four starts.

In addition to winning each game, the veteran starting pitcher owns a sparkling 0.35 ERA in 26 innings pitched. While his strikeout total (just 16) is somewhat concerning, Zimmermann’s stellar ERA more than makes up for any strikeout issues. However, the starter has shown in his career that he can rack up strikeouts.

The 29-year-old has averaged 169 strikeouts over the last three years. During those seasons, he’s averaged 205 innings per year. His strikeout numbers will improve. He has the stuff, he’s just induced much more contact early—and that’s been extremely successful for him so far.

What’s more, Zimmermann has also provided the Tigers with another ace to pair with Justin Verlander. Not only will this become valuable come playoff time, but it also gives Detroit some much needed consistency. With fellow starting pitchers Shane Greene, Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey all showing some signs of struggle in 2016, the fact that Zimmermann gives the team an excellent chance to win every fifth day is extremely valuable.

Winner: Victor Martinez

Victor Martinez has had a stellar career, with perhaps his best season coming in 2014. The designated hitter led the American League in on-base percentage, OPS and intentional walks, while also hitting .335. Martinez also drove in 103 runs, crushed a career-high 32 home runs and would have won the MVP award had it not been for some guy named Mike Trout.

Then 2015 happened, and the slugger struggled through an injury-riddled campaign in which he hit just .245 with 11 home runs and 64 RBI over the course of 120 games.

Now, with the 2016 season kicking into full swing, Martinez seems to have put 2015 well behind him.

In 22 games, the 37-year-old is hitting a robust .319 with 17 RBI. He’s also continued his habit of posting a low strikeout rate with just seven fans in 22 games. It also seems as if the man known as “V-Mart” has found his power stroke again.

Also in those 22 games, Martinez already has five home runs—just six fewer than his total output from a year ago.

With the offense thriving again, look for Victor Martinez to produce on a similar level to what he did in 2014 as opposed to 2015.

Loser: James McCann

James McCann has done absolutely nothing wrong. Yes, he is sporting a rather unsightly .133 batting average, and yes he is currently missing time due to an injury, but he hasn’t done anything wrong.

In fact, the catcher got off to a solid start. He notched a pair of RBI in the first four games of the season, and lived up to his billing as the “McCannon” on defense.

However, he qualifies as a loser because of the way Jarrod Saltalamacchia has played in his absence. The backstop referred to as “Salty” has been so impressive at the plate for the Tigers that he could potentially force McCann into a platoon situation when he returns from injury.

Saltalamacchia’s tear has included 10 extra-base hits and 15 RBI in just 16 contests. Those 10 extra-base hits also include a team-leading six home runs. What’s more, the catcher’s home runs always seem to come at the right time. Five of his home runs have come with the Tigers behind in games. One stretch saw the veteran homer in three consecutive games that he played in.

Next: Why Michael Fulmer to Revitalize the Pitching Staff

McCann is only a loser in the sense that he could lose some at-bats to Saltalamacchia moving forward.