The Detroit Tigers dropped their second game in a row on Monday night after a tremendous start to the year over the first two games, falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a late night showcase.
While the story from Monday was the struggle of Justin Verlander in his first game back in a Tigers uniform, there’s an underlying narrative that is starting to bubble to the surface early as well. Wins and losses count just as much in March as they do in September, but two defeats is not the main concern.
It’s the way Detroit’s heavy hitters have performed through the first four games of the season including Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, all of whom are struggling immensely right now.
Tigers Top Hitters Look Dreadful So Far
Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Kevin McGonigle has obviously impressed so far and will be a huge boost to the lineup relative to last season, but if the early returns are any indication, the offense looks a whole lot like the unit that crumbled last September than a vastly different amount of production there.
Carpenter — largely in the leadoff spot — has collected just one hit in 16 at-bats with a dreadful 10 strikeouts. Torkelson and Greene have not been a whole lot better each hitting well below .200 with on-base percentages below .300 as well.
Between the three of them — a trio that makes one of the most important cores of the offense — they already have 21 strikeouts in just four games as they struggles continued into Monday night. If things don’t improve there, Detroit could have a serious problem on offense.
Tigers Lineup Not Strong Enough for Success if Struggles Continue
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Detroit elected this offseason to address the offense largely with internal help and improvement rather than going out and signing a big time free agent, a strategy many disagreed with and were upset to see.
While it’s still extremely early and fans should not start pressing the panic button yet, the way the season has begun did not do much to quell those concerns just yet. The Tigers need their heavy hitters to perform, and so far they have not done that at all.
Ultimately, there’s plenty of time to get it going still, but Detroit would be better served heating up with the bats before the train goes off the tracks and they hit a serious cold spell to get in an early season hole in the standings.