Monday, February 28, 2011

Countdown to Opening Day: #16 Detroit Tigers

By Andrew Marcus
Sportswriter for Montgomery Media
Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515
















To help pass the time between now and the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season I am going to be examining a different team every day. Starting with the Pirates, working toward the Phillies. I will give you my projected starters, breakout and bust players, biggest spring training question and top prospect

PROJECTED LINEUP
CF Austin Jackson
2B Carlos Guillen
1B Miguel Cabrera
RF Magglio Ordonez
DH Victor Martinez
LF Brennan Boesch
SS Jhonny Peralta
C Alex Avila
3B Brandon Inge

PROJECTED ROTATION
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Rick Porcello
Brady Penny
Phil Coke

PROJECTED BULLPEN
Closer - Jose Valverde
Set-up - Joaquin Benoit

Top Prospect - Jacob Turner (RHP)

Breakout
Max Scherzer - The potential has always been there, even in his Arizona days. Scherzer struggled with command and too many pitchers per at-bat prevented him from making it out of the fifth inning often. But something clicked in the second half of 2010. His 4.61 ERA before the break dropped to 2.47 in the second half and I full expect him to pitch more like the stud we saw at the end of the last year and approach 200 strikeouts.

Bust
Austin Jackson - The average BABIP (batting average of balls in play) is .299 in major league baseball. Jackson during his rookie season led the bigs with a .422 BABIP, 29 points higher than Josh Hamilton who finished second. The 170 strikeouts for the centerfielder all point to some regression in his sophomore season. I'd be uber-surprised if he reached the 180 hit mark again.


Biggest Spring Training Question
Blame it on the Alcohol - You will not be able to step foot in Lakeland without hearing the whispers of whiskey talk. Cabrera's ongoing idiotic behavior has set up for a month of off the field chatter. If Miggy has anything short of another MVP-type season, Motown is sure to   point fingers at the bottle.

LAST YEAR'S RECORD: 81-81

Booze you loose, homers you win


PROJECTED FINISH: 3rd in the American League Central

***THANKS FOR READING MY TEAM BY TEAM OUTLOOKS TO HELP PASS THE TIME
 
Check back tomorrow for the Oakland A's

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