The Detroit Tigers have to be considered one of the top favorites to win the World Series in 2013. After winning the American League pennant for the second time since 2006 last year, they fell short of the ultimate prize again and were swept by the San Francisco Giants.
This year’s Tigers team is cleary better than last year’s version. Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez have replaced spots that belonged to Delmon Young and Quintin Berry in 2012, Max Scherzer may very well be the best pitcher in the American League, and the team FINALLY has a solid closer in Joaquin Benoit.
For any team to win a championship, many things must come together. Here are the five biggest keys to the Tigers finally bringing a World Series Championship back to the Motor City for the first time since 1984.
5. Winning on the Road
Despite owning one of the best home records in all of baseball, the Tigers only finished 42-39 away from Detroit. Starting off in Oakland, of all places, will not be easy. As much as Athletics fans do not show up during the regular season, they make O.co Coliseum arguably the toughest place to play come October.
Last year, the Tigers headed to Oakland with a 2-0 series lead before allowing the Athletics to even things up on their home turf. Detroit, however, finished the job in the Coliseum in Game Five, beating the Athletics in dominant fashion.
As intimidating as the Coliseum as well as Comerica Park may be, the road team generally had more success in the regular season meetings between these two teams. The Tigers took two of three in Oakland, while the Athletics took three of four in Detroit.
4. Figuring Out Left Field
Left field has been a question mark for most of the year. Andy Dirks and Matt Tuiasosopo have both had their struggles, but Dirks has picked things up as of late.
Don Kelly has been starting in left fairly frequently, and he continues to prove that he can be an effective hitter in the clutch despite not being a high-caliber hitter.
Jhonny Peralta may also end up playing some left field. He was tearing the cover off of the ball this summer before being suspended for being connected to the Biogenesis clinic in Miami.
Now that he has served his time, Peralta returned to the Tigers lineup in the final week of the season and picked up right where he left off.
Dirks will start the first game, as he has had all sorts of success against Bartolo Colon throughout his career. After that, the situation becomes murky.
If Peralta can hit like he did before the suspension and feel comfortable in left field (he is a shortstop by trade), he should earn the spot very soon.
3. The Bullpen
It seems like even when they are World Series contenders, the Tigers still always have bullpen issues.
Losing fireballer Bruce Rondon to injury will be a huge blow, but keeping the erratic Phil Coke off the ALDS roster will likely prove to be a smart choice.
As mentioned before, Benoit has been the answer in the late innings; however, he finally blew a save for the first time in 2013 last week in Minnesota. He then blew another just a few days later in Miami. These blown saves could be just coincidental, but Benoit is a player to keep an eye on. Fortunately for Detroit, Athletics closer Grant Balfour has been struggling mightily the second half of the season.
Al Alburquerque was solid in last year’s ALDS against the Athletics, but he has had huge control issues this season.
Jose Alvarez and Luke Putkonen have both been up-and-down this year and have made Tiger fans uneasy when they trot in from the bullpen.
The back end of the bullpen features Jose Veras and Drew Smyly; both of whom have been fairly consistent thus far.
Adding Rick Porcello to the bullpen could prove to be a huge boost. If a starter struggles, Porcello can eat up some huge innings and be very effective on the mound.
2. Justin Verlander
Speaking of starters struggling, Justin Verlander just has not been himself this season. He has still been a solid pitcher, but he has not been the explosive perennial Cy Young candidate that we all know him to be.
He was arguably the Tigers’ MVP in last year’s ALDS, turning in two dominant performances in Game One and the do-or-die Game Five.
On the bright side, Verlander has not surrendered a run in either of his past two starts. With Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez pitching better than they have in their entire careers, having Verlander turn in elite performances would be a gigantic boost to Detroit’s title hopes.
1. Miguel Cabrera’s Health
Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in baseball today and should win his second consecutive American League MVP this season.
Unfortunately, he has been suffering through both groin and abdominal injuries for the past several months and his production has dropped off, hitting only one home run in the final month of the year.
He did, however, wrap up the regular season with four multi-hit performances in his final six games.
When Cabrera is at the top of his game, no pitcher in baseball can stop him. He is the keystone of a lineup that is arguably one of the best that baseball has ever seen and coupled with the dominant pitching, can lead this team to a World Series title.
On the plus side, Cabrera will have had nearly a week to rest before Friday night’s Game One. Will it be enough to bring him back to normal? Only time will tell, but if he starts hitting again, watch for the Tigers to go a long way in the playoffs.