OF Spencer Torkelson announcement that he is leaving Detroit Tigers Now another significant issue for team…..
DETROIT — It’s another new season and we’re still talking about slow starts.
Everyone’s sick of talking about slow starts, including Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who humored such questions last spring but cut them off early this time around.
He noted quite accurately that many players are new and know nothing of the Tigers’ April struggles, so harping on it now would serve no purpose.
The Tigers entered May with a 10-17 record last year; 7-13 in 2022; and 8-19 in 2021.
In Hinch’s first three seasons at the helm, the Tigers are 25-49 before May 1.
By the end of the season, they’ve figured things out, going 49-40 after Sept. 1.
The slow starts have forced the Tigers to start the summer in a hole, extinguishing much of the hope that the club could make its first playoff appearance since 2014.
Will this be the year?
An interim step to making the playoffs is competing for the playoffs, something the Tigers haven’t seriously done since 2016.
For once, the schedule-maker is giving them a little early-season help.
Last year, 37 of the Tigers’ first 40 games came against teams that had finished with an above-.500 record in 2022.
In 2024, the schedule isn’t exactly easy (23 of their first 40 games come against teams who finished above .500), but perhaps the start is manageable.
The Tigers open the season in Chicago against the White Sox and open up Comerica Park on April 5 with three games against the Oakland Athletics.
The White Sox and A’s are popular picks to be the worst teams in the American League.
