Detroit Tigers: The 2016 All-Injured Team
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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Remember that time when Jordan Zimmermann was 8-2 with a 2.58 ERA?
That was back on June 3rd, after pitching 5.2 innings against the Chicago White Sox and allowing two earned runs. Since then Zimmerman is 1-3, now 9-5 on the season, and has seen his ERA jump from 2.58 to 4.44–in just six starts!
Those six starts span the distance of June 8th to August 12th (and counting), due to a nagging neck strain injury, which has limited the big-ticket free-agent signing to just 16 games started this season. He did briefly come off of the disabled list to make a start on August 4th against the White Sox; however, it was clear that Zimmermann wasn’t healthy, as the light-hitting Sox put six runs on the board in just 1.2 innings in the Tigers 6-3 loss. Zimmermann would later be diagnosed with a right lat strain, earning him a return trip to the DL after the game.
The Tigers had hoped for the “former Nationals” version of Zimmerman when he was brought in during the offseason… the guy who had pitched to a 70-50 record with a 3.32 ERA, 3.40 FIP and a 1.171 WHIP in 1094 IP; however, they have received that 9-5, 4.44, version which has only struck out 60 batters in 97.1 innings.
While Zimmermann came with large expectations, and with a large $110 million contract, it may be a player with much less expected of him this season that may be the biggest injury loss for the Tigers.
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Who would have thought that an injury to the Tigers young 3B would have had such a crippling effect on the team’s success, but that is exactly how this is playing out after Castellanos (Cas-tee-on-ohs) sustained a non-displaced fracture of his left hand on a hit-by-pitch on August 6th against the New York Mets.
Castellanos was having a breakout season this year, hitting .286 with 18 HR and 58 RBI in 105 games played this season. He was actually hitting over .300 through mid-July, until a late month slump saw his average drop. This is coming from a career .265 hitter, who hadn’t hit over .260 in his first two years in the majors.
Castellanos was also on his way to setting new career-high marks in a number of statistical categories like OBP (2016: .331 v. 2014: .306), SLG (2016: .500 v. 2015: .419), OPS (2016: .831 v. 2015: .721) and OPS+ (2016: 123 v. 2015: 97).
These numbers show his value on offense, but his defense has also steadily improved in 2016 as well. And while he won’t soon be confused for Adrian Beltre in the field, Castellanos has seen his Rtot number (a Total Zone, Total Fielding and Runs Above Average rating) go from -28 in 2015 to -10 in 2016–meaning he has cost his team 18 fewer runs on defense this year. Combine this with his numbers at the dish and it’s no wonder why the Casey McGehee replacement at third is hurting the Tigers and their playoff push.
While the difference at 3B is substantial, losing an All-Star caliber OF is never easy either, which is exactly what happened in a game of “Man v. Wall” earlier this season.
Next: Walls Don't Hit the DL
J.D. Martinez is good. Very good. Just ask Chris Sale, who threw Martinez a single pitch in his return to action in a PH role.
Martinez “fought the wall and the wall won” earlier this season, which really hurt the middle of the Tigers once-vaunted offense. In his two-and-a-half seasons in Detroit, the RF has hit .296 with 75 HR and 220 RBI, adding an OPS of .894! Last season, in his healthiest career season, Martinez played in 158 games–totaling a .282 BA with 38 HR and 102 RBI. Players like this don’t get replaced easily… and especially not with UTIL Mike Aviles or young OF like Steven Moya or Tyler Collins (who have combined for 9 HR and 27 RBI in 356 plate appearances).
In his last 30 AB over a seven-game stretch since his return, he is hitting .367 (11-for-30) with four runs, three doubles, one HR and two RBIs. Assuming he can play in each of the remaining 48 games of the Tigers season, he should be able to realistically add a .275 BA with 10 HR and 25-30 RBI.
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This offseason the Tigers traded for former-Tiger Cameron Maybin, in hopes that he and Anthony Gose could combine to become an “okay” CF combo this season; however, they never could have imagined just how good Maybin would be on his own.
In 63 games this season, due to injuries that cropped up during Spring Training and again recently, Maybin is hitting .325 with an OBS of .394 and an OPS of .792. He and Ian Kinsler (.291-21-62 with 91 runs scored) have combined with Miguel Cabrera (.312-26-76) to form one of baseball’s best “top-of-the-order” combinations in baseball. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Justin Upton hasn’t hit at all for them, plus J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos have battled injuries (as we previously noted). Maybin also chipped in with 13 SBs, which is tied for the team lead with Kinsler, which is important for a team who only has three players with six or more stolen bases (Upton, 8).
The team may have to call up Gose from AAA to fill Maybin’s spot; however, while the defense may marginally increase, the offense will disappear as Gose is hitting just .209 in 91 ABs this season.
There is speculation coming out of Detroit that the Tigers may kick the tires on CF Carlos Gomez who was recently waived by the Houston Astros. Should the Tigers make a play for Gomez they would owe him about $2.5 million through the end of the season. This move would be easier to make than finding a replacement for our last injured Tiger…
Expectations have been high for Norris since he became the biggest name the Tigers acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the David Price trade of last season; however, due to injuries the left-hander has started only 12 games in Detroit–with only five of them made this season (for a total of 18 IP).
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Norris, who is only 23, was expected to solidify the bottom of the Tigers rotation this season, allowing for a five man rotation of Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmerman, Anibal Sanchez, Shane Greene, and either Norris and Mike Pelfrey. Of course, Zimmermann and Pelfrey are currently on the DL, Sanchez has pitched to a 6-12 record with a 6.31 ERA, and Greene has been worked exclusively out of the bullpen for the Tigers (and quite successfully).
Only Verlander (12-6, 3.42) and Fulmer have ERA’s under 4.00 in the rotation, so any help that Norris could have brought would have gone a long way in their playoff hunt.
Luckily for Detroit, even though Norris hasn’t worked out to this point, SP Michael Fulmer has to the tune of a 9-3 record and a 2.43 ERA in 18 starts. If Norris can keep the Tigers in games while Zimmermann and Pelfrey mend, and Maybin and Jose Iglesias (who also hit the DL recently) can return, then the Tigers could still be a player in the Wild Card hunt (if not the AL Central race).
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“Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble,” said Benjamin Franklin. The Tigers hope to do just that for their remaining regular season games.
NOTE: Norris was recently activated from the DL to make a start on Tuesday, Aug. 9 against the Mariners. He pitched five innings of one-run ball, striking out three and walking two while “scattering”seven hits.