Detroit Tigers: 3 goals for the second half of the 2022 season

The Detroit Tigers may not be in contention, but the second half of the season is still important

The Detroit Tigers are once again out of contention at the midway point of the season, and the trade deadline will most likely bring more selling off of pieces. Needless to say, the disappointment has been immeasurable.

Despite the lackluster first half, the second half will still have a great deal of importance for the future of the franchise. They need to further figure out who will be a part of this team long term. If nothing else, they need to play much better and leave a good taste in their mouth, just for their own psyches.

In a season full of negatives, the Detroit Tigers need to find some positives, as hard as they may seem right now. This season is a wash, so it’s time to focus on getting better for 2023. Here are three goals for the remainder of the 2022 season.

1. Have a league-average offense

In theory, this should not be hard to do. If even half of the hitters that have underachieved for the Detroit Tigers so far in 2022 live up to their potential, it should not be difficult at all for the Tigers offense to be around league average in the second half.

Their two best hitters in the first half were 39-year-old Miguel Cabrera and Harold Castro. That’s not going to get it done, as we already know. They need the likes of Javier Baez, Jonathan Schoop, and Jeimer Candelario among others to step it up.

Hopefully some reinforcements will help, such as finally getting Austin Meadows back. If he continues to put up the same at-bats that he was putting up before his health went down the toilet, then he should be as good as advertised. Maybe Akil Baddoo can figure it out at the big league level after mashing in Triple-A, although the early returns on that haven’t been great.

For those of you holding out hope that hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh will get the heave-ho midseason, I’ve got bad news for you. It doesn’t sound very likely. A.J. Hinch has said that it isn’t wise to make a change if you don’t have someone better waiting in the wings. So the Tigers are likely stuck with him for the rest of the year.

And of course, I’d be foolish if I didn’t mention Spencer Torkelson here. Hopefully he figures something out in Triple-A, or gets some confidence back at the very least. Saying the Tigers need him to be productive would be an understatement.

The offense shouldn’t be this bad, and it should not be hard for this offense to be average. If they had been average all season, then they’d probably be hovering around .500 right now. They just need a few guys to step up, and they’ll start winning more games.