The Tigers were hoping they would still be playing on Monday night, but instead their season ended when Justin Upton took strike three on Sunday against the Braves. They closed the season with 86 wins, a 12-game improvement from their disappointing 2015 season. They've now missed the playoffs two straight years after four consecutive AL Central titles.
The two biggest takeaways, for me, from this Tigers season are that 2016 provided plenty of positives that could carry over into 2017, but the age concerns could well cancel those out.
Basically, things look good right now, but are they good enough given that the window of contention with the Cabrera-Verlander nucleus isn't very open.
First up, the positives:
- Miguel Cabrera is still a ridiculously awesome hitter.
- Ian Kinsler had one of the best seasons of his career.
- Nick Castellanos showed signs of turning the proverbial corner at age 24. Previously a career .257 hitter with a .304 on-base percentage, he hit .285 with a .331.
- In case there was any question, J.D. Martinez is still a great slugger.
- While Justin Upton did get off to a slow start, he hit .303/.395/.765 with 18 homers in his last 37 games.
- Cameron Maybin easily had the best season of his career.
- Victor Martinez looked like he might be done in 2015 at age 36 with his bad knees. Instead, he hit .289/.351/.476 with the second-highest home run total of his career.
- Rookie Michael Fulmer should win AL Rookie of the Year after posting a 3.06 ERA in 26 starts.
- There was reason to worry about Justin Verlander ever being a frontline pitcher again, but instead he had an exceptional year, leading the AL in strikeouts and WHIP. His 3.04 ERA in 227 2/3 innings, with those 254 strikeouts, shows that he was "back."
- There were also good signs from young pitchers Daniel Norris and Bruce Rondon.
That's a lot of good to come out of one season, no? And, again, it all helped put the Tigers in contention to the final day of the season as they won 12 more games than they did last year.
Let's also note that Fulmer was only up for 26 starts while Maybin and J.D. Martinez lost significant time to injury. Jordan Zimmermann did too, and he wasn't very good once the calendar turned past April. So it's not like everything broke perfectly for the Tigers.
There's obviously work to be done on the roster -- mostly the pitching staff -- but overall things look pretty good heading into 2017 for the Tigers.
Well, except for the age-related concerns.
Verlander and Cabrera will be in their age-34 seasons next year. They could easily still provide prime-type numbers, sure, but we're pushing it by now. So is Victor Martinez, as he'll be 38. Closer Francisco Rodriguez will be 35, though closers can generally stave off age a bit better.
The rest of the team isn't old, but Verlander and Cabrera are of utmost importance with this group while we saw what a difference a good Victor bat makes this season.
So, sure, 2017 looks like it'll again be a good one for the Tigers, but will it be good enough and can their aging stars continue to hold off Father Time? That's the biggest question for this group as they turn the page.
