Detroit Tigers: Tigers vs. Indians series takeaways

The Detroit Tigers fell in two of three games in a mid-week series against division rivals Cleveland after a 4-0 loss on Thursday afternoon.

The Tigers at times looked strong and at times showed they still have plenty of areas to improve upon over the last three days. Before the Detroit Tigers head to Minnesota for a weekend series against the Twins, let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from their series against the Indians.

Detroit Tigers- Is Stewart’s Consistency Something to Worry About?

Christin Stewart came up in some very big places for Detroit in the first few series of 2019. His flashes of greatness like his Opening Day home run and game-winning grand slam vs. KC gave Tigers fans hope that he could be the real deal, but consistency at the plate could be some cause for concern.

Stewart was mostly ineffective during this week’s Cleveland series, with just one hit in Wednesday’s win and was left out of the lineup on Thursday. It may not be cause for overreaction, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Christin Stewart cool off after some amazing highlights at the plate as he went hitless between Opening Day and the start of the Royals series. He is still a rookie so Detroit fans should still give Stewart some time to find his feet when it comes to consistency.

Detroit Tigers- Matt Boyd Stays on Fire

Matthew Boyd has had three starts so far in 2019 for the Tigers, and in all three he has looked dominant at times. Boyd had another solid start and got his first win of the season on Wednesday afternoon. In six innings he surrendered one run on just four hits and struck out six Cleveland hitters, his first appearance in 2019 with less than double-digit Ks.

It’s been a much more impressive start to the season than expected for Boyd and the rest of Detroit’s starting pitchers. Boyd and Zimmermann both have done well at holding up the top of the rotation with Michael Fulmer out, and if Boyd keeps the heat coming from the mound it would be a massive help to a Tigers team still working on finding its footing on offense.

Detroit Tigers- Niko Goodrum Comfortable at Cleanup

It’s not the easiest task in the world batting cleanup after Nick Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera, but Niko Goodrum is beginning to really show he is up for the job. Goodrum finished the Cleveland series with 3 RBIs including a two-run HR in Wednesday’s win. He also had one of Detroit’s just three hits on Thursday as well.

With all his six RBIs on the season coming during the past two series, Niko is starting to hit his stride in the cleanup spot. Cabrera and Castellanos haven’t quite hit for as much power as normally expected but have done well at getting on base. With Goodrum behind them starting to consistently get the ball in play, Niko is showing the makings of a real cleanup specialist.

What did you see that you liked or disliked from the Tigers during the last series? Feel free to let us know in the comments section down below.