2021 - The Best Losing Season I've Seen

Finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. To be honest, it is hard to believe it's been five years of rebuilding. In some ways, it doesn't seem like it's been that long, and in other ways, winning seasons and teams seem like a distant memory. I cannot believe what I watched this year!

The Tigers should not have done as well as they did. We dug ourselves a hole in April and never quite got out of it, but we got close to .500 a couple of different times. The last week to 10 days of the season were disappointing, to say the least, especially with how September started. But we had four winning months and we could have been much, much worse.

Imagine with me for a moment, if we had not had Tyler Alexander. What if Mize/Manning/Skubal had gone through rookie struggles or regressions? Can you imagine what our season would have looked like? Each time we had an injury that could have sunk us, someone (or multiple someones) stepped up. Help came from places you wouldn't have expected. Late in the season, we lost two of our late inning guys and the rest of the 'pen closed ranks. Could we have won some games we ended up losing if we had Soto and Cisnero? Maybe, but it's just speculation. Maybe they would have had rough days for those games too.

I'm sure there are some really ugly numbers for the 2021 season. I know there are areas that still need improvement. One that everyone will be talking about is offense. During the last two weeks, especially, we left way too many guys on base and in scoring position. We could have won if we could have scored those runners. But I submit to you that we have a VERY young offense. We have young guys and guys with not much Major League experience. Our catchers for most of the year were rookies. Our outfield is mostly rookies or guys with only a few years of experience. Commentators want more home runs but we tried that recipe for almost 10 years and it didn't work. Now we have a team who can walk, steal bases, and still hit some home runs. Want to know which team had the most triples this year? The Tigers. In all of baseball! Home runs are not everything. If you can't get guys on, you only score one run at a time. Not the best recipe for winning. 

I'm not saying don't sign guys if they can help, but I'd rather see the Tigers work with some of the talent they have to improve hitting. Don't go after a guy if all he does is hit for power. I would love to see guys who walk and hit doubles. Guys who are smart about the strike zone. Remember, we have a very young team. Learning the strike zone takes time. It takes practice. It takes experience. 

There will be new faces next spring, but I hope we don't walk away from what got started this season. I think there is a lot of promise here; a lot of hope. The Tigers have grit and that goes a long way too. All things considered, this was the best losing season I've lived through. Everyday felt like a chance to win. We had things to play for and, of course, don't forget about the season Miggy had. 2021 was an exciting baseball season and here's hoping it is the catalyst for even better seasons, starting in 2022.

Looking Back // 2018 Season Recap

I feel like this season went better and worse than expected. Guys, I'm really frustrated and there were a lot of tears of frustration cried. Some days, I almost wish Jim's "baseball gods" existed, just so there was someone to blame; something that might be causing this, rather than just dumb luck.

The Tigers were not going to be making a playoff run. I didn't expect that. But we were down and then we were kicked lower. Oh, you already have a young team? Well, play most of the year without Miguel Cabrera. Let's injure your rotation a bunch, have your over-paid veteran continue to underperform, and your other two pitchers not be all that great. 

We basically played the entire year with a Triple - A team. 

Super frustrating. 

But we were a much better team than the numbers indicate. Despite not having a good rotation for most of the year, despite having a Triple - A team, despite not having Miguel, we played hard. Here's a number for you: 52.

We played 52 one-run games. Yes, we lost more than we won, but we were in those games until the last out, many times having the tying or winning run on base. Some might say that those facts show how bad we were. I disagree. Our Triple - A Tigers fought hard. 

There were mistakes. Grueling mistakes at terrible times. There was awful luck, when everything was going wrong for us and right for the other teams. Nothing would land for us and every bloop and blimer landed for them. For some reason, that's the way things tend to go. If you're bad, everything possible is going to seem to go wrong. If you're good, it all goes right. (Unless you're the Tigers. Then it doesn't matter. Sorry, still bitter from 2013). 

This was a year of personal development. Castellanos continues to improve and mature. And, I'm sorry, but I just don't understand how he grades out so poorly. He's supposedly one of the worst right fielders in the game. Sometimes I wonder if the numbers accurately represent reality. 

The bullpen, guys! The bullpen was really pretty good. Guys made leaps and bounds out there. Don't worry about Greene. No one is more upset than he is and I have to believe that he'll figure it out this off-season and come back like the 2017 Shane Greene. Jimenez is looking impressive and a bunch of other guys either solidified their standings as solid relievers or really showed up. 

It was a brutal year. But every day it was a new day and I could believe (for the most part) that we could win that day. It's been said that the White Sox are a year ahead of the Tigers in the rebuild process. Well, guess who was ahead of whom at the end of the year? People keep saying it's going to be years until the Tigers are even decent again. After this year, with what I saw and heard, I don't believe it even more than I did at the beginning of the season. 

Look, really look, at how we played. Think about what could happen if most of these guys stay here and play again together next year under the same coaching staff. You know they'll all be working hard this off-season, many of them playing winter ball to grow even more. We just might win more of those 1-run games and maybe even be a threat to teams. I'm not saying we win the division, but maybe put some pressure on the leading team. I don't think it's that much of a stretch. 

Especially if a couple of things actually go our way for once. Baseball is skill, yes, but it sure seems to be an awful lot of luck as well. 

The Nightmare Is Over

I never thought I'd be glad to have a baseball season end. I hope to never feel this way again. My friend, trying to be optimistic, said, "The Tigers get the number one draft pick." Yes, and it's nice that they get something good out of this mess, but I'd rather not have the number one draft pick, if given the choice. 

This year was a nightmare. But even in the middle of that, there was good. The best and biggest things happened at the end of the season: the Tigers first triple play in sixteen years and Andrew Romine becoming just the fifth player in MLB history to play all nine positions in one game. Those were moments to treasure amidst upheaval and heartbreak. 

You might wonder why there is a picture of a sunrise. To me, the sunrise is a symbol of hope. Despite projections, despite anything anyone says, next season is a fresh start. To borrow from Anne of Green Gables, "the next season is always fresh, with no mistakes in it". I look forward to next season with anticipation. Maybe more than in previous years because of how badly we ended. 

February is a new start.