If we didn't know better, we might think the Tigers hate hitting home runs. Except a lot of them seemed to like hitting home runs last year, like Austin Meadows and Robbie Grossman who combined to hit 50. A year later, those two have combined to hit zero.
That is bordering on the impossible. It's already unprecedented across Major League Baseball, no matter what you say about deadened balls and fewer homers throughout the bigs. 80 active MLB players hit at least 22 homers last year. Meadows, who hit 27 for the Rays, and Grossman, who hit 23 for the Tigers, are the only two who have yet to hit one this season. We are halfway through June.
Both Grossman and Meadows have missed time this season, yes. Both would (probably) be off the schneid by now had they played a full a slate of games. But they still rank among Detroit's top eight hitters in plate appearances. They are still defying logic.
Because Grossman has played 47 games, with zero homers and a .539 OPS to show for it. He had five homers and an .804 OPS at this juncture last year. And Meadows has played 36 games, with zero homers and a .675 OPS to show for it. He had seven homers and a .749 OPS at this juncture last year.
Furthering their assault on logic, neither player has ever gone this long without hitting a homer to start a season. Not even close. The longest drought for Meadows in his first four seasons was eight games. The longest for Grossman in his first nine seasons was 30 games, in his rookie year.
Tucker Barnhart also deserves mention here. For as glamorous as his .233 average looks in a lineup full of sub-.200 hitters, the Tigers starting catcher has provided zero power himself. Through 43 games, Barnhart has no homers and a .541 OPS. He had three homers and a .789 OPS through 43 games last year.
He's the only catcher in the majors this season with at least 120 plate appearances and no home runs.
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Speaking of catchers, Eric Haase sadly deserves mention, too. He was another one of those Tigers who seemed to like hitting homers last year, so much so that he hit another one on Opening Day this year. It must have lost its novelty. He has one homer since.
Haase has two homers and a .526 OPS through 34 games. He had eight homers and a .772 OPS through 34 games last season, when he went on to finish sixth among catchers with 22 bombs. Logic doesn't live here.
Barnhart, to be fair, was brought here for his Gold Gloves, not his bat. He's been good enough guiding a banged-up pitching staff to warrant the move. And a regression had to be expected for Haase, who caught the majors by surprise last season as a 28-year-old rookie. The regression has just been extreme.
All of this has contributed to a power outage of historic proportions. The Tigers are on pace to hit 81 homers, the fewest by a team in a 162-game season this century. And they are on pace to score about 439 runs, the fewest by a team in a 162-game season ... ever.
They have 100 games left to change that.
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