BP’s Joe Sheehan calls Tigers best story
posted in Out-of-Town Media |In a look at the first half of the season, Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan put Justin Verlander No. 2 in his Rookie of the Year watch (behind Liriano) and called the Tigers the best story, but declined to call them the biggest surprise. Actually, Baseball Prospectus and its PECOTA system saw the Tigers resurgence coming even as national “experts” were blind to it. Of course, not even Nostradamus saw 59 wins at the break or thought they’d be arguably the best team in baseball.
Sheehan writes:
The Detroit Tigers arrived at least a year early in much the same way that the 2005 White Sox did: good pitching, exceptional defense, and a ton of power. We already know that this formula can succeed, and I would argue that the Tigers, spot for spot, look more sturdy than the Sox did at this point a year ago if you don’t consider health. That’s the big question: can a team with so many players prone to missing time stay healthy long enough to lock up their postseason spot? They don’t have the offensive depth to withstand an injury to any of their up-the-middle players; An injury to Curtis Granderson, who’s been so critical to their defensive upgrade, would be devastating.
Thanks for the jinx, Joe. But it would be true for the White Sox as well if they lost any of their injury-plagued players this year. But his point about Granderson stands. He was the main key to the turnaround in my mind. (More on that later today, hopefully. I have three players in general I’m thinking.)
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