3 Early Red Flags About the Detroit Tigers’ 2022 Season

Detroit Tigers Injuries

The first and biggest blow to the Tigers was when Riley Greene left Spring Training with a foot fracture. Around the same time Spencer Torkelson got his call up to the bigs, reports surfaced that Greene would have come up right beside him, something fans have been waiting to see.

After having such a successful spring where he slashed .429/.500/1.548 with two home runs, it would have been interesting to see if that success would have continued in the majors. You have to wonder how much of a difference him being in the lineup would have made so far.

Greene joins Jake Rogers, Javy Baez, and Derek Hill as some of the injured, but much needed offensive players lacking in the Detroit Tigers lineup.

Tigers pitching took a huge hit when they lost three starters and four relief pitchers. Spencer Turnbull, Jose Cisnero, and Kyle Funkhouser all have lengthy rehab assignments, but over the last few weeks it seems to have gotten worse. Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Rony Garcia, and Andrew Chafin are all plagued with injury, as the Tigers start to bullpen dive, shuffling players around to fill the gaps.

This could work to A.J. Hinch’s advantage, as he’s intent on using pitchers outside of the norm, but it could be problematic when trying to prepare for pitching matchups. With the recent call up of Beau Brieske from triple-A Toledo, we’re starting to see just what the depth of Tigers pitching is capable of and with Michael Pineda going scoreless through five innings during Thursday’s game, I’d say we have some reason to be impressed.

Let’s face it, the Tigers are one of the most injured teams in baseball. But at least we’re first in something.

Bad Detroit Tigers Defense

Miguel Cabrera’s latest quote shows signs of frustration, and just like fans, he’s hoping for the Tigers to turn a game around into a much-needed win.

Although Cabrera was intentionally walked in Thursday’s game against the Yankees, being just one hit shy of 3,000 with bases loaded, the Tigers finally collected a win after losing three in a row.

But it didn’t come without some defensive difficulty.

The Tigers dropped multiple popups in Tuesday’s game against the Yankees. Early in Tuesday’s game, a pop up from Josh Donaldson seemed to confuse both Tyler Alexander and Tucker Barnhart. The ball ended up bouncing off Alexander’s glove, and then again off Barnhart’s glove, finally dropping to score two runs for the Yankees. In this situation, someone has to take command, communicate and ensure the easy out.

It didn’t improve in Wednesday’s matchup either. The game was tied 3-3 when Drew Hutchison entered the game in the seventh inning after Eduardo Rodriguez had pitched a pretty solid six innings. A bunt from Gleyber Torres and a bad throw from Hutchison ended up giving the Yankees the go-ahead to take the lead.

If there’s one area that desperately needs improving, it’s making those routine, defensive plays. Poor defense cost them two games.

For what it’s worth, it’s still early and there’s plenty of baseball left to be played but the Tigers need to find a way to bounce back, get ahead of pitchers, and make plays that win them games.