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Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland A’s: The starting rotation

By Jennifer Rainwater

Jul 1, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; General view of scoreboard after the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 1, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; General view of scoreboard after the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

Detroit Tigers Starting Rotation

The Tigers rotation boasts the last three Cy Young Award winners in Justin Verlander (2011), David Price (2012) and Max Scherzer (2013). Add in last year’s league leader in ERA with Anibal Sanchez and you have another group of four absolute aces ready to lead the Tigers into the postseason. There is also the fact that Verlander has the innate ability to simply shut the Athletics down.

David Price, LHP

Price had been the Tampa Bay Rays ace since he came up into the league in 2008 showing immense potential. The 28-year old is a four time All-Star and has led the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts, innings pitched and in 2013 he threw four complete games.

Price has been to the postseason four times with the Rays, including one World Series, although he’s experienced mostly loss. He is 1-4 in nine starts and five relief appearances and owns a postseason ERA of 5.06. Don’t let the losses sway you however because that amount experience is highly valuable in helping motivate younger players (although Detroit doesn’t have too many).

This season with between the Rays and the Tigers he is 11-8 with a 3.12 ERA in 24 starts. He’s also thrown two complete games which really shows he has the stamina to help the Tigers finish out the season strong and on into the postseason.

Max Scherzer, RHP

The reigning Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer, won 21 games last season and is currently leading the league with 13 wins in 2014. Scherzer has fewer credentials than the rest of the staff but the 30-year old really only came into his own after leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks and joining the Tigers in 2010. The two-time All-Star is 86-49 with a career ERA of 3.62.

Scherzer has been to the postseason three times, started nine games and made relief appearances in two. He is 4-2 in October with a 3.42 ERA. Like Price he’s experienced success in the playoffs but also loss. One can only imagine what it must be like to lose a World Series. Yet experience, winning or losing, during the postseason is a key component to future postseason success.

This year Scherzer has started 23 games, is 13-4 with a 3.24 ERA. He was an All-Star and can be a leader for the Tigers going into the remainder of the season.

Anibal Sanchez, RHP

Next up is Anibal Sanchez. He is the only guy on this list of Tigers without a Cy Young Award but he lead the league in ERA last season posting 2.65 on the year. In his career he has gone largely unnoticed (until recently) and has been underrated, mostly likely being a bit lost in the shadows of Verlander and Scherzer. Sanchez had some decent years with the Florida, now Miami, Marlins but didnt start flourishing as the pitcher we see today until he was traded to the Tigers in July 2012. The 30-year old has gone 26-19 with a 3.06 ERA in that time.

Sanchez is 2-4 in six postseason starts for Detroit with a 2.95 ERA in October. He, like the rest of this group of Tigers, is out there to prove that they cannot only win an A.L. Pennant but finally take it all the way to win the Word Series.

Sanchez is 8-5 this season in 20 starts and has posted a 3.37 ERA on the year. He may not have all the accolades that the other three pitchers in this rotation do but he has experience and has truly shown that he can hold his own over the last couple seasons among the league’s best, his own Tiger teammates.

Justin Verlander, RHP

Verlander, 31, has spent his entire career with the Tigers. He took home the Rookie of the Year award in 2006, is a six time All-star and as previously mentioned a Cy Young Award winner. At one point or another he has lead the league in nearly every pitching category from ERA to wins to complete games to strikeouts. He’s got four years of playoff experience and holds a career postseason ERA of 3.28, he’s pitched in two World Series and is 3-0 with a no-decision against the Athletics, including a compete game shutout in game five of the 2012 ALDS.

This year however hasn’t been Verlander’s best, unless you include having the world’s hottest girlfriend in super model Kate Upton. He’s currently leading the league in earned runs and is 10-9 on the year in 23 starts with an unusually high 4.66 ERA. You can’t count Verlander out though. His experience and success against Oakland are valuable and telling. Plus, everyone is allowed to have an “off-year” once and a while.

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