Detroit Tigers series preview - Bad meets bad

The Kansas City Royals travel to Comerica Park to face the dastardly Detroit Tigers in a three-game tilt between the presumptive cellar dwellers in the American League Central. This skirmish will surely summon fond memories of Dmitri Young and Bobby Higginson going toe-to-toe against the likes of Darrell May and Chris George, battling in plate appearance after plate appearance each one happening as relevance gets further and further away. You can’t buy memories like these; or, at the very least, you won’t find any takers if you’re trying to sell them.

Game times and pitching matchups are as follows:

Monday, April 2, 12:10 PM CDT - Jason Hammel versus Francisco Liriano (L)

Tuesday, April 3, 12:10 PM CDT - Jake Junis versus Matthew Boyd (L)

Wednesday, April 4, 12:10 PM CDT - Danny Duffy (L) versus Daniel Norris (L)

When ZiPS only projects two position players to be 2.0 fWAR or better, things may not be looking good for your club. When one of those two players is coming off a below-replacement-level campaign and is owed at least $30M per year from now through the end of the 2023 season, the prospects for success get decidedly murkier than an already cloudy picture. The Royals are not likely to be good any time soon, but these ain’t the Tigers of yore. This is a Tigers team that can afford to roster a fifth outfielder (Victor Reyes) who they took in the Rule 5 draft and is unlikely to hit well per scouting reports that details a swing that was a mess.

There is not a lot of good in that trio of Tigers hurlers. Francisco Liriano was good once. Now? Not so much. Daniel Norris and Matthew “Don’t Call Me Matt, Matty, or Thew” Boyd will make their first starts of the season. Messrs. Norris and Boyd both throw baseballs with their left hands. Victimized by a garbage defense behind them (second-worst DRS in baseball, worsted only by the New York Mets), both Boyd and Norris suffered the ignominy of ERAs significantly worse than their FIP suggested they pitched. Of course, each unfortunate southpaw’s xFIP and SIERA found a middle-ground between the two marks, so perhaps some of the damage done was of their own doing. Still, both Boyd and Norris have the potential to be average or even above-average starters, though for now that potential remains unrealized.