Why Tigers Fans Should Not Be Concerned with Team's Slow Spring Training Start
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The Detroit Tigers entered spring training in Lakeland with high hopes of competing for a championship this season coming off what was a huge winter in free agency.
As this team looks to take the next step and make an even deeper run in the playoffs than the last two years, fans are paying close attention to camp to see who's performing at a high level and who isn't. What they've seen though is the team as a whole is struggling to score runs and prevent them.
Across the first four spring training games, Detroit has been outscored by their opponents 35 to 8 before a tie against the Toronto Blue Jays and a loss against the Philadelphia Phillies in the two games on Wednesday to bring their official record to 0-4.
On the surface, it's a little bit concerning, but fans should certainly not react strongly to spring results, and the team will be just fine.
Tigers Will Be Just Fine Amid Slow Start
Reacting strongly to spring training results is equivalent to doing the same for NFL preseason games, which Detroit should be particularly familiar with after the 2008 Lions went 4-0 in those exhibition games before infamously finishing 0-16 in the regular season.
Sure, individual performances matter, but from guys like Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Drew Anderson and other arms, it's been nothing but green flags. Even this should be taken with a grain of salt though after Kenta Maeda looked dominant in camp a year ago before a laughably poor start to the season that led to him being designated for assignment.
Would it be nice to pick up a couple wins? Sure, but it's not something that should keep fans up at night that the team is not mowing their way through the Grapefruit League schedule.
What Tigers Have Coming Up Ahead of Them
Over the next few days, some exciting times are ahead for Detroit. Following an absolute shelling in the 20-run beatdown against the New York Yankees -- which skewed the numbers for how bad things have been -- Keider Montero takes the hill Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles.
On Friday, it will be Jack Flaherty on the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies and Drew Anderson back starting Saturday following an impressive debut coming up on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Coming up on Sunday will be Skubal getting the start against the Blue Jays. Perhaps over the coming days, the Tigers will be able to find their way into the win column and make fans who are concerned settle down a little bit.
Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.