Figured with opening day on Monday I would kick this off. Coming off of a pennant season and the addition of Torii Hunter and VMart coming back into the lineup this may very well be the best team in baseball. I have them winning 93 this season considering how loaded the AL is and the fact that the Central has a little more teeth to it this year. Here's the Opening Day lineup and rotation as well as projected stats...
Lineup
1. Austin Jackson CF--.270 13 HR 61 RBI
2. Torii Hunter RF--.279 18 HR 76 RBI
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B--.316 35 HR 114 RBI
4. Prince Fielder 1B--.292 30 HR 103 RBI
5. Victor Martinez DH--.294 13 HR 77 RBI
6. Andy Dirks LF--.280 9 HR 40 RBI
7. Jhonny Peralta SS--.261 14 HR 65 RBI
8. Alex Avila C--.252 13 HR 56 RBI
9. Omar Infante 2B--.287 9 HR 58 RBI

Rotation
1. Justin Verlander 3.01 ERA
2. Max Scherzer 3.49 ERA
3. Doug Fister 3.61 ERA
4. Anibal Sanchez 3.85 ERA
5. Rick Porcello 4.01 ERA or Drew Smyly 3.95 ERA

Opening Day forecast is High of 32 with a low of 20 and sunny in Minneapolis. First Pitch is at 4 EST so it will be a little below freezing during the whole game I'd imagine

/end thread

hasbeen;1417408 wrote:/end thread

Well I figure if we have 26 pages on the Tribe thread we could have a little conversation on a team who should finish above 4th in the division:thumbup:

I support this.

I'm going to start the Mariners(aka 2013 World Series Champs) thread now.

Tigers definitely the favorite. Strong starting rotation. Strong hitting line-up. Question mark at closer. Not a strong bench-but then who has a strong bench? I'm looking forward to a big year!

Wally;1417871 wrote:Tigers definitely the favorite. Strong starting rotation. Strong hitting line-up. Question mark at closer. Not a strong bench-but then who has a strong bench? I'm looking forward to a big year!

Garcia and Castellanos could be pretty solid, they'll probably rip it up in Toledo

I have a bet with a tigers fan that Sanchez wins 20+ games. A bottle of Patron. Thoughts?

Games started in Toledo don't count.

karen lotz;1417877 wrote:I have a bet with a tigers fan that Sanchez wins 20+ games. A bottle of Patron. Thoughts?

Games started in Toledo don't count.

He could since he is the #4 man and has such an advantage over other 4's and has an amazing lineup to support him. Kinda like how Kyle Lohse won 16 last year although his ERA was sick

He's also not good

Classyposter58;1417897 wrote:He could since he is the #4 man and has such an advantage over other 4's and has an amazing lineup to support him. Kinda like how Kyle Lohse won 16 last year although his ERA was sick

Lol no way he comes close to 20 wins. Sanchez is a very average pitcher. I say he maybe gets 14. And really outside of Cabrera, fielder and maybe Jackson the tigers line up is very average as well. Not to mention an absolutely terrible defensive team.

Crimson streak;1417909 wrote:Lol no way he comes close to 20 wins. Sanchez is a very average pitcher. I say he maybe gets 14. And really outside of Cabrera, fielder and maybe Jackson the tigers line up is very average as well. Not to mention an absolutely terrible defensive team.

I'm saying it's possible, not likely. This lineup is pretty damn good considering the first 6 hit over .300 last year and their first four pitchers should have a sub-4 ERA. They're very solid

Sanchez is the 4th starter. He won't have a sub 4 ERA.

Classyposter58;1417918 wrote:I'm saying it's possible, not likely. This lineup is pretty damn good considering the first 6 hit over .300 last year and their first four pitchers should have a sub-4 ERA. They're very solid

Victor is coming off a huge injury and isn't getting any younger. Hunter is on the downside of his career. Jackson is solid but could easily have a let down year same could be said for dirks. This might be the year that we start seeing a not completely dominate verlander. He's 30 years old and has pitched a ton of innings over the last couple years. It will be interesting to see how he pitches the next few years

http://www.mlive.com/forums/tigers/

Looking good so far with a 3-0 lead and 8 hits spread out pretty well throughout the lineup. Verlander only one hit through 3. Bases loaded now for Torii Hunter who is 2-2 today

Well, Sanchez didn't pitch bad…..but how much is not having a real closer going to hurt this team? Coke is so up and down….I almost dread seeing him….should have brought AA in last night.

Classyposter58;1417897 wrote:He could since he is the #4 man and has such an advantage over other 4's and has an amazing lineup to support him. Kinda like how Kyle Lohse won 16 last year although his ERA was sick

This is definitely how the MLB works.

Do #4 starters usually start the second game of the season or is Leyland trying something different?

Also, it looks like Pap Grande was signed to a minor league deal and has an out clause if he isn't called up by Cinco De Mayo.

karen lotz;1419651 wrote:Do #4 starters usually start the second game of the season or is Leyland trying something different?

Idk what the hell he is doing. Detroit doesn't play on Mondays this month until the 29th however so maybe that has an impact? Also Papa Grande will be the greatest Mud Hens closer of all time, but I don't want him anywhere near Detroit, he's done at that level

Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera are absolutely killing it. Torii is hitting .424 right now with RBI while Cabrera is hitting .390 with 1 HR and 10 RBI so far. Prince is hitting .308 with 2 HR and 9 RBI. We look good early on :thumbup:

Classyposter58;1422762 wrote:Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera are absolutely killing it. Torii is hitting .424 right now with RBI while Cabrera is hitting .390 with 1 HR and 10 RBI so far. Prince is hitting .308 with 2 HR and 9 RBI. We look good early on :thumbup:

Impressive outing by the bullpen today.

karen lotz;1423163 wrote:Impressive outing by the bullpen today.

No really just Villareal was awful and was he ever. He has such great stuff, with little to no command. When the guy is on, he is nearly unhittable. But when he is off, it gets ugly quick.

Either way the offense was rolling hardcore today, scored 6 runs in the first 1.1 innings today as they cruised to an 11-1 win. Fielder had 4 RBI bringing him to 14 on the year while Cabrera added an RBI triple for his 11th. Those two combined have more RBI than the rest of the team who have 22 total

Detroits top 4 hitters this year in the lineup are batting a combined .386 with 45 RBI. Talk about bringing it

Fister retired the first 10 batters before double-double-single by Seager-Morales-Morse gave the Mariners a lead.