Detroit Tigers Schedule: Previewing the Rest of May

Detroit Tigers players have turned things around. After a sluggish stretch in which the team lost 11 of 12 games, the team has won four games in a row. Here’s a look at what the schedule holds for May.

Detroit Tigers fans were probably relieved when the team swept the Minnesota Twins. The sweep put the Tigers back on track where the season is concerned. What’s more, it also confirmed that Detroit can win games against inferior teams.

The Tigers are now 6-0 against the Twins on the season, but they’ll need to improve against quality competition as the year progresses.

During the aforementioned losing streak, Detroit was swept by Cleveland (unfortunately for the second time this season) and the Texas Rangers. The stretch also saw the Tigers drop two of three games against both the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles.

Luckily, the rest of the month of May will provide Detroit with chances to prove the team’s worth against some teams that aren’t cellar dwellers like the Twins.

During the final days of May, the Tigers will play the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies at home before hitting the road for a six-game road trip out west to take on the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Here’s a preview.

Philadelphia Phillies

At 24-17 the Philadelphia Phillies may the biggest surprise in all of Major League Baseball.

After continuing the rebuilding process in the offseason by dealing reliever Ken Giles to Houston for a haul of prospects, it was expected that the young Phillies would finish towards the bottom of the standings. That obviously hasn’t been the case so far, but it’s hard to imagine Philadelphia staying in the playoff race all season.

As it stands, the team has an unsustainable -28 run differential. Additionally, the team has scored the second fewest runs in the league—and that isn’t likely to improve any time soon. Cleanup hitter and potential offensive catalyst Ryan Howard has a paltry .236 on-base percentage this season.

Despite the poor offense, the Phillies do have some solid pitching. Aaron Nola and Vincent Velasquez are building blocks for the future, while Jeremy Hellickson has intriguing potential as an innings eater. The bullpen is solid as well, with Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris and David Hernandez spearheading an effective group.

As with the series against the Rays, if Detroit can score runs, they’ll be successful.

Mike Pelfrey will oppose Velasquez in the first game of the series on Monday the 23^rd. Justin Verlander takes on Hellickson in game two while Anibal Sanchez take the bump for the finale against Nola.

Oakland Athletics

Unlike the Rays and Phillies, the Oakland Athletics are a known commodity to the Tigers this season. Detroit took three of four from the A’s in a home series in late April.

The Tigers will now make the return trip to the Bay Area, and hopefully achieve a similar result.

As it stands, the A’s are currently 19-23 and five games back of first place in the American League West. While Oakland has a similar record to the Tigers, the Athletics’ run differential suggests a different story. Only the Twins at -68 have a worse run differential in the American League than the A’s -42.

As the run differential would suggest, Oakland has trouble putting runs on offense.  The A’s are ranked towards the middle of the pack in both runs scored and runs per game, but they have the fifth-worst team on-base percentage in the league. In other words, if Tigers pitching is up to task, Detroit can have some success.

Michael Fulmer is slated to start the first game of the series against fellow highly-touted youngster Sean Manaea. Following that, Jordan Zimmermann will take the mound and face Jesse Hahn, while Mike Pelfrey will wrap up the series against Rich Hill. Pelfrey lost to Hill in the only game that Oakland won in the first series between the two teams.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Detroit Tigers finish up the month of May on the road against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Considering that the Angels are already decimated by injuries, the Tigers have a chance to finish May on a high note.

As of now, the Angels are without almost half a roster’s worth of players due to injury. Key offseason acquisition Andrelton Simmons is out with a thumb injury, while outfielders Craig Gentry and Daniel Nava are also on the disabled list. Rounding out the list of injured position players is starting catcher Geovany Soto.

On the pitching side of things, Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney and C.J. Wilson are all absent from the rotation due to injuries, as is closer Huston Street.

Add in the facts that Jered Weaver’s FIP has ballooned to 5.68 and is only averaging 5.2 strikeouts per nine innings and Albert Pujols is only hitting .224 and you realize that things aren’t the best in Anaheim.

The Angels may have the same number of wins as the Tigers, but those numbers aren’t likely to stay the same as the season progresses. Detroit is, if not a better team, a much more complete team.

Next: Detroit's First 40 Games

Detroit’s three-game set with the Angels will stretch into the beginning of June, but the Tigers will get two games in with the Halos before May ends. Justin Verlander will match up with Jhoulys Chacin in the first game of the series, while Anibal Sanchez takes on Hector Santiago.