Tigers series preview: Which team has greater offensive woes?

The Royals had a tough early part of the schedule and likely looked at this six-game homestand against the Tigers and Nationals as a chance to get right, particularly after dropping 7 of 9 on their last road trip. But the hapless Tigers have been playing better in May, winning 10 of 17 this month. Like the Royals, they’re a team full of inconsistent young players and over-the-hill veterans as the club tries to climb out of the bottom of the American League standings back to contention.

Detroit Tigers (20-24) at Kansas City Royals (14-34) from Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Tigers: 3.57 runs scored/game (29th in MLB), 4.73 runs allowed/game (20th)

Royals: 3.85 runs scored/game (26th), 5.33 runs allowed/game (27th)

The Tigers have struggled to score runs even worse than the Royals. They’ve had ten games this year where they have scored one run or less, including four shutouts. Promising young outfielder Riley Greene and journeyman infielder Zack McKinstry are the only regulars with an OPS+ over 100. Former #1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson has yet to develop and has a 78 OPS+ in his first 153 big league games. Shortstop Javier Báez has been a free agent bust and was pulled from a game earlier this year for being out on the basepaths after forgetting how many outs there were. The two starters they received from the Phillies in the Gregory Soto trade - Phil Maton and Matt Vierling have failed to hit.

Vierling has provided good defense in the outfield, although he has had some miscues in the last week that have cost the Tigers some runs. Overall the Tigers are fifth in Defensive Runs Saved. They hardly steal any bases and are second-to-last in Baserunning Runs.

Both teams are listing a lot of “TBA” for pitcher in this series, so this is my best guess at the matchups. We do know Michael Lorenzen will start for the Tigers tonight against Brady Singer. Lorenzen has been a nice one-year deal pick up for the Tigers, allowing just two runs over 20 innings in his last three starts combined, including six shutout innings last time out against the Pirates.

Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez has been very good for the Tigers, and is fourth in the American League in ERA, second in WHIP, and tenth in fWAR. His control has been sharp this year and he features a deep arsenal that includes a four-seamer, cutter, change up, sinker, and slider. Lefty Matthew Boyd has seen his flyball rate spike upwards, and has struggled this year with walks. He doesn’t miss many bats with his 91 mph fastball, and relies on a change and slider as well. He has been tough on lefties, who are hitting just .194/.265/.258 against him this year.

Detroit’s bullpen has been surprisingly good - their 3.83 ERA is tenth in baseball. They don’t rack up strikeouts, but they have the lowest walk rate of any bullpen. Closer Alex Lange is a curveball/sinker pitcher with an opposing hitter’s line of .145/.250/.194. Jason Foley has the fifth-highest groundball rate among relievers. Rule 5 pick Mason Englert has mostly pitched lower-leverage innings.

The Tigers have been playing better in May, but have been shutout three times in their last ten games. Their offense is really bad - they’ve given 86 plate appearances to a totally washed up Miguel Cabrera. But they’re likely licking their chops at the chance to face Royals pitching. The Royals have a chance to win a series here, but nothing has been easy so far.