Detroit Tigers: Tigers face Marlins in battle of league’s worst offenses

The Detroit Tigers have been struggling at the plate all season, and now prepare to face the one team that’s had as much if not more trouble trying to put up runs in the Miami Marlins.

It was the rain that helped the Detroit Tigers avoid being swept for a second consecutive series on Sunday, as a long rain delay caused play to be suspended in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Tigers trailed Oakland 5-3. Since that game now has to wait until September to be finished, Detroit turns its attention to hosting the Miami Marlins in a three-game series at Comerica Park beginning Tuesday.

We all know by now how tough it has been for the Detroit Tigers to find any somewhat consistent success in the batter’s box. What fans may not know, however, is that if there is a team in the major leagues who are struggling more at the plate than the Tigers, it’s the Miami Marlins.

Miami currently holds the worst record in baseball at 13-31 and are just 4-14 away from home so far in 2019, which could give Detroit some advantage as the series is in the Motor City. Along with the worst record in baseball, Miami is also the home of the worst offense in baseball.

Throughout the season, the one team that has consistently been worse than the Detroit Tigers on offense has been the Marlins. Miami is last in the MLB in runs scored with just 118, the Tigers being in second to last place with 149. The Marlins have also hit just 27 homers as a team so far this year, again placing them in dead last just behind Detroit, who has 36.

For Detroit, Ronny Rodríguez has been the highlight of the offense as of late, leading the team with 17 RBI and six HR. Miguel Cabrera has also been quite productive on the year with 16 RBI despite just his one homer so far in 2019.

If the Marlins have any bright spots on offense, the biggest one would have to be catcher Jorge Alfaro. Alfaro leads the Marlins with 13 RBI this season, but did sit out Sunday’s series finale against the Mets with a calf injury and could miss some if not all of the series in Detroit.

The Tigers and Marlins have both had their fair share of struggles at the plate this season. With both squads having a hard time scoring runs, these games could very well come down to whichever team scores first having a very good chance at winning.

The Detroit Tigers have a day off on Monday before beginning the series against Miami on Tuesday night at Comerica Park.