The Detroit Tigers are still in contention for the playoffs despite a rash of injuries. Here is a look at all those hurt.
The once white-hot Detroit Tigers are now just 5-5 in their past 10 games, which has erased most of the damage they did to the Cleveland Indians lead in the AL Central during the eight-game winning streak they saw after the All-Star break.
While the team is only 4.0 GB of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central race, and 3.0 GB of the Baltimore Orioles (in theory) in the AL Wild Card hunt, the team has seemingly fallen apart–thanks in large part by the recent sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners (now just 0.5 GB of Detroit in the Wild Card hunt).
While the casual fan could point to the bullpen, the rotation or Justin Upton (in general) being the team’s biggest issue, in general the team has been ravaged by injuries this season.
The team’s Top 12 in WAR include: Ian Kinsler (4.7), Michael Fulmer (4.4), Justin Verlander (4.3), Miguel Cabrera (3.7), Nick Castellanos (1.7), Victor Martinez (1.5), Alex Wilson (1.4), Jose Iglesias (1.3), Cameron Maybin (1.0), J.D. Martinez (1.0), Jordan Zimmermann (0.8) and Kyle Ryan (0.8); however, you’ll notice the names of Castellanos, Maybin, J.D. Martinez and Jordan Zimmermann especially stand out–because three of them are currently on the DL and the other (Martinez) just returned after being gone for about a month.
While Miguel Cabrera has played in 113 of 114 games this season, and six others have/had played in 105 or more, injuries have held players like James McCann (69 games), Cameron Maybin (63 games) and J.D. Martinez (73 games) in check.
Here are the five biggest injuries that have derailed what is feeling more and more like a “what could have been” season in Motown:
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