In Major League Baseball there is nothing more dangerous than a team on a hot streak, and right now the Detroit Tigers are riding some kind of hot streak.
Simply put, there is nothing or nobody that can stop them right now.
They are arguably the best team in baseball, and right now I have no problem saying that they will soon be the favorites in the American League.
This is not the same Tigers team that we have seen in the past few years.
They have gotten a bad reputation for starting hot, but then choking away the division in the second half. This is not that team, though. In fact, they have been quite the opposite.
These Tigers are getting hot at the right time, but they also have the talent to back it up. There is arguably no better four-five combination in the league than Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez.
They have the perfect “pick your poison” combination. We all know what Cabrera can do when you elect to pitch to him, but now the opposition has to worry about the hot hitting RBI machine Martinez coming up right behind him.
Players like Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young and Austin Jackson are all performing much better than anybody expected—both at the plate and in the field.
Speaking of home plate, young catcher Alex Avila has come out of nowhere to put together an All-Star year and he just keeps getting better!
I’m not even going to get into Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander and his 22 and counting wins, or super closer Jose Valverde and his 42 and counting perfect-save streak. Those two deserve an article all to themselves, and that alone goes to show you how good the Detroit Tigers are.
The Tigers have put together an exceptional lineup top to bottom, and I wouldn’t hesitate to give them the nod in a playoff series. You have to assume that they would pitch Verlander twice in a five-game series and even three times in a best of seven.
It’s hard to argue that those aren’t locks for a win.
Doug Fister has been exceptional since coming over to the Tigers and he would be a formidable No. 2 starter. Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer would be Detroit’s options at No. 3 if they even needed to go that far.
Behind this offense, all the pitchers have to do is keep the opponent to a few runs, and that’s something that this Tigers rotation can do against any team.
Get it to the seventh inning and you have Joaquin Benoit or lefty Phil Coke as the setup men. Valverde in the ninth means it’s a done deal.
You could make the argument that as good as the Tigers have been they won’t be able to keep up with a team like the Yankees or Red Sox, but keep in mind that those two and the Rays are currently beating each other up right now in the AL East. Even the Rangers in the West have to worry about the Angels breathing down their throats.
The Tigers are sitting pretty in the AL Central, and by the time the postseason rolls around they will be more than prepared for whatever matchup faces them.
The Detroit Tigers are the hottest team in baseball right now and I don’t see anything stopping them.
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