The Tigers woke up Wednesday with the best record in the American League. In the words of GM Jeff Greenberg, "we've played really good baseball." Is it sustainable? Is their strong start for real?
"Obviously our record speaks for itself," Greenberg said on 97.1 The Ticket. "And if you look at the underlying performance that's gotten us here, coming into today we have the best run differential in baseball and I think that's a reflection of the fact that we've really gotten production from all parts of the roster.
"We've gotten really good starting pitching. One through five, we feel like every night we have a starter on the mound who's going to give us a chance to win. Our bullpen has been really steady throughout, multiple guys who can finish out a game, multiple guys who can match up with different pockets of the opponent's lineup. And as an offense, we've gotten on base, we've hit for damage, and we have versatility and depth."
The Tigers are second in the majors in team ERA (2.96) and WHIP, tops in the AL in both. Their bullpen ranks third in the majors in ERA, their rotation fourth. Offensively, they're tied for fifth in the majors in runs per game (5.1), after averaging 4.2 last season, and fifth in OPS (.755), up from .685 last year.
And as Greenberg pointed out, "we're still battling through some injuries." The Tigers are eagerly awaiting the returns of key pieces like Parker Meadows and Matt Veirling, and pitchers like Alex Cobb and John Brebbia.
"We started the season with a good chunk of guys we expected to be on our Opening Day roster on the injured list," said Greenberg, the top lieutenant of Scott Harris. "A.J. (Hinch) has done a fantastic job of putting those pieces together, putting our guys in a position to succeed. The environment in our clubhouse is really good right now, and I expect those things to continue.
"Look, we're just over 20 percent into the season. We've got a ways to go. It's important that we don't get ahead of ourselves, but given where we are right now, we feel like this is a club that can certainly contend throughout the season."
Since the start of the Tigers' surge to the playoffs last August, their 53-26 record is the best in baseball -- percentage points better than the reigning World champion Dodgers. The next three teams are the Padres, Mets and Cubs. After that, the Phillies, Guardians, Yankees, Astros and Mariners.
The Tigers rode pitching chaos to an almost impossible playoff spot last year, along with timely hitting, clean defense and aggressive base-running. They've received another boost this year from unexpected contributors like Spencer Torkelson and Javier Baez, who over the prior three seasons were two of the most disappointing players in baseball.
Detroit's top four position players in bWAR are Baez, who's thriving in center field in the absence of Meadows, utility man Zach McKinstry, Torkelson and Dillon Dingler, who's grabbed the starting catching job by the horns in the absence of Jake Rogers. They are four of eight regulars in Detroit's lineup with an OPS over .800.
Whether that's sustainable is a different matter, but the Tigers should have the pitching and the internal depth -- headlined by those rehabbing players -- to survive any regression on offense. They'll also have the opportunity to add reinforcements ahead of the trade deadline, which is still more than 100 games in the distance. For the first time since acquiring David Price in 2014, the Tigers could be active buyers.
That will be determined at a later date. And as Greenberg cautioned, "We can't lose of the fact that our biggest improvements are going to come internally, like we've seen so far. We have a young team full of players who have made a ton of progress."
"That progress isn't always going to be linear, but that needs to continue to be our focus," said Greenberg. "That's the reason why we are where we are right now."
Asked if the Tigers are at least planning to be buyers if they continue to win, Greenberg reiterated, "We're always going to look for ways to get better. What exactly that means -- it's May 7th. Our roster is going to continue to evolve."
"I think the biggest step we can take right now, in addition to the continued improvement of our young group, is to get guys healthy," said Greenberg, referencing Veirling, Meadows and Wenceel Perez on the position player side, Brebbia, Cobb and Sawyer Gipson-Long on the pitching staff.
"We like the team we have right now," he added. "We're obviously proud of the fact that we've been able to navigate some of these injuries with our versatility and depth. It's a testament to our players, to A.J. and our coaching staff, our medical staff as well. And we have more guys coming over the course of the next weeks and months. I think it's important internally to not lose sight of that as well."
