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Losing first baseman Miguel Cabrera until mid- to late-August with a severe left calf strain is a blow that makes the task of overcoming first-place Kansas City’s 3 1/2-game lead even more difficult but Detroit’s veteran-laden team may be able to stay in the hunt until the former Triple Crown winner returns.
“I don’t look at the standings too much because you can drive yourself crazy,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “What you do is go out and start winning every series. We really should start winning series on a regular basis. That’s how you win a division and get back into the race.”
There are calls for the Tigers to be sellers and not buyers as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches but that isn’t the style of club management headed by President/CEO/General Manager Dave Dombrowski.
“There’s a lot of competitive balance,” Dombrowski said before Detroit lost its last game before the break to fall to 44-44. “The only way that changes is if things you don’t anticipate happening, happen.
“If you lose 11 games in a row, from any club’s perspective, well, that changes how you feel. If you win 11 games in a row that changes how you feel, too.
“And if you continue to play the way you have been, I don’t think that changes anything at all.
“I anticipate us being in position to try to win a World Championship.”
The tight-lipped Dombrowski doesn’t like to comment on what he’s doing until he’s done it but history says Detroit will be adding a starting pitcher, at the minimum, before month’s end.
He’s made a move to get help every July and/or August since Detroit played in the 2006 World Series. Owner Mike Ilitch has been in a win-now mode for more than a decade.
“We have to get on a roll at some point,” Dombrowski said. “We have to. We’re not going to be able to play a couple of games, get three games above, then one game above and then back to .500. We are not going to be able to do that and make the postseason. We have to get on a roll and the only way to do that is with good starting pitching.”
Dombrowski anticipated the winter loss of Max Scherzer by adding lefty David Price at the trade deadline last year and now faces the same problem this month. Price can become a free agent at the end of the season.
Adding a front-line starter is imperative to Detroit’s chances of making the postseason this year due to the first-half breakdown of three of the rotation’s five members.
Right-hander Anibal Sanchez seems to have regained his effectiveness after some first-half problems with home-run balls but right-hander Justin Verlander was out until June with a bad triceps and still hasn’t won a game in five starts since his return.
Right-hander Alfredo Simon has struggled with his split-finger and his control in recent starts and right-hander Shane Greene was sent to the minors to see if he could regain the form that led to sensational starts in his first three outings for the Tigers. Greene returned Sunday and got pounded for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings, only throwing quality pitches consistently in one inning.
Ausmus bunched his best hitters at the top of the lineup on the day Cabrera suffered his calf injury and they’ve been getting on base consistently since then, which has helped the bottom of the order.
Verlander giving Detroit consistent good starts is a must if the club is to at least compete for a wild-card spot. Adding at least a solid mid-rotation start is another.
“We have been very inconsistent through the first half,” Dombrowski said. “We haven’t really been on a roll since the beginning of the season. Not particularly pleased with where we are, but we’re also in a position where if we play to our capabilities in the second half, we have a chance to win still.”
Dombrowski is expected to pick off help for the back end of the bullpen, perhaps from a team wishing to unload a salary.
The cost will be high, though, and continuing to deal top prospects is catching up to the Tigers, whose farm system is thin at the upper levels and doesn’t have many “can’t miss” kids at Class A and lower.
Despite a need for young talent, Detroit seems likely to postpone that move until after the season. It would take a collapse in the two weeks following the All-Star Game for the Tigers to become a seller.
“That’s not really my call, but I would probably be surprised (if we sold). I think we still have a good team,” Ausmus said.