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Pitcher Jordan Zimmermann continues to disapoint.
The Tigers look pathetic.
Bats are cold more often than not these days. Pitching is spotty. Jordan Zimmermann is supposed to be one of the aces on the mound, but has thrown like a minor leaguer since his 2016 injury.
The team is in fourth place in the mediocre Central Division with a 23-27 record.
At the Detroit Free Press, two sportswriters Monday share different views of what both see as a distressing situation,
Shawn Windsor thinks the Tigers are already cooked this season:
There is nothing worse in baseball than a team that looks finished before the summer arrives. And the Detroit Tigers look done.
Sure, the Tigers technically aren't done yet – they’ve only played 50 games.
They’ve had injuries, a grueling schedule, and … stop it. They simply aren’t good. Lately, they’ve been worse than that.
The question is: what should management do about it? Right now, they aren’t going to do much but wait.
Because it’s too soon to start a fire sale, not that the team has much to sell. Besides, they tried to unload some of their most valuable veterans back in the winter and got nowhere.
A more charitable view comes from Freep colleague Anthony Fenech in his latest commentary Monday. He acknowledges the "team is terrible right now," but suggests "a pause for patience:"
The Tigers are about where they should be, given the circumstances. Given the fact they did not have J.D. Martinez for the first six weeks of the season, or Miguel Cabrera for more than a week, Ian Kinsler for a week and counting, the current state of doom and gloom is not anywhere close to where it could have been. . . .
Yes, there is urgency. But not enough for the two-months-away trade deadline to be top of mind at this time. . . .
I still think there’s a better chance of them being in contention on July 31 than not.
