To a respectable, married, man, the Detroit Tigers are like a provocatively dressed woman.
You don’t want to look, it’s almost painful in a way, because when you do, you get reprimanded and regret it. But that opportunity to see something amazing is just so great that you can’t help but watch.
And besides, if there were no consequences to face, what would the point of looking be?
So we watch and we cringe and we shout and scream in excitement and feel like small, silly, children when we do, but do we care? No.
Depending on who you talk to, the Detroit Tigers should be 3-0 on the season. The game where they got the most impressive pitching performance was the one they lost.
So far, every game the Tigers played in against the Kansas City Royals they’ve had to come from behind.
On Monday they were down 4-2, when the team exploded for six runs in the seventh.
On Wednesday they were down 1-0, until Miguel Cabrera socked the home run off the right field foul pole in the ninth.
On Thursday they were down 2-1 before Miguel Cabrera smacked the three-run home run in the seventh.
Notice how Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting .571 (8-for-14) with two home runs and seven RBI so far, was the catalyst in two of their three wins this season. In Monday’s game he was right in the middle of the six run rally.
This is no fluke.
Consider the cleanup hitters on each of the three contending teams: Without Justin Morneau, the Minnesota Twins would still be division contender, without Paul Konerko the Chicago White Sox would still a division contender, without Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers would have very little chance to win the AL Central.
Depending on how you look at things; that is a good mark for Cabrera, or just a flat-out, horrible position to be in.
We know how valuable Cabrera is. That’s the reason he has an eight year $152.3 million deal. He is paid to deliver; when he does you get this sweet warm feeling that at least there is something right in the Tigers baseball universe.
Then there is Magglio Ordonez.
So much can be said about Magglio’s value; in fact it’s talked about much more than it needs to be.
Critics be forewarned, with his monster home run on Thursday afternoon, Ordonez is hitting .500 (7-for-14) with two extra base hits on the year. There is no doubt how important a fast start will be, not only for Ordonez’s season, but for the metro-Detroit fan base’s blood pressure.
Those are the reason we watch, the reason we sit through the troublesome, murky play of suspect performers such as Scott Sizemore and his lack of hustle, or Brandon Inge’s recurring knee issues that never seem to go away, and even Gerald Laird’s inability to hit the broad side of a barn.
But they aren’t the worst and they will either fix the problem or be important defensive contributors.
Enter, Jose Valverde.
Sure, it’s only been one series and they haven’t even played at home yet.
But so far, Valverde, the same guy who looked downright explosive in spring training, hasn’t looked like that emotional player he’s tagged to be.
He’s looked slow, lazy. His fastball doesn’t move much and he appears scared to throw his breaking pitches.
After Wednesday’s debacle, where he came in for the bottom of the eleventh up 2-1 and promptly gave up a home run to Alberto Callaspo, a single to Billy Butler, and a double to Rick Ankiel, I almost caught myself calling for his release.
I’m just being dramatic; there are still 159 games to go.
But in all seriousness, there is a justifiable cause for concern here.
For a player who predicted that, if given the opportunity, he could save 74 games this year, blowing his first save opportunity of the season is not a good way to start.
It’s not that Valverde is going to blow every game he closes. He’s not. He’s going save a reasonable number of games.
But when you are going up against division rivals that are as talented as the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox, there is a big difference between blowing seven to ten games (he blew seven apiece in 2007 and 2008; seasons where he saved 47 and 44 games respectively) this year, and blowing three to four.
Wasn’t last year’s division decided by one game?
It’s concerning and a lot of attention will be paid to Valverde from now on.
Even if it means daring a look when you know it’s going to come back to bite you.
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