How will the Tigers pump up their offense in 2010?
Even before the Tigers get busy with roster additions and deletions for 2010, it's fair to ask how a team that needs more muscle in its batting order figures to add it.
How do you make your existing corps of hitters better?
Essentially, you hope they have better seasons than they did in 2009, which apart from Ryan Raburn featured not a single hitter who had what you could call a career year.
One thought is that the Tigers should get more offense out of catcher. Gerald Laird will likely be more of a platoon starter with Alex Avila, which figures to add punch from both sides.
Avila is a left-hand hitter who can crush a baseball, while Laird is a better hitter than he showed in 2009. Playing fewer games should make his bat more potent.
Curtis Granderson is definitely a better hitter than he displayed in 2009, his 30 home runs considered. He can -- and must -- hit left-handers. And he can -- and must -- hit closer to .300. His 2009 season was baffling and fairly indefensible.
Miguel Cabrera can do better than .324. He can do better than 34 home runs and 103 RBIs. He needs to take care of his personal challenges and move closer to the Triple Crown-grade hitter he should be in 2010.
Some people high in the Tigers organization believe Magglio Ordonez during September was the brand of hitter he will be in 2010, even at 36 years of age. They are convinced he'll be closer to the 2006-08 Ordonez. If he is, the Tigers pick up a big bat that will make a difference for the brunt of the season.
Carlos Guillen should have a bounce-back year, as long as he is healthy, which will remain an issue until Guillen shows differently.
Brandon Inge had what could have been a stunning season -- until his bad knees wrecked his second half. And yet he hit 27 home runs and had 84 RBIs. Inge will turn 33 next May but could, and probably should, best his 2009 numbers if his knees are cooperating.
It's a safe bet that Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers president and general manager, will add a bat or two during the off-season. The new hitters will presumably provide what Aubrey Huff didn't contribute down the stretch in 2009.
What matters, however, isn't who the Tigers add as much as what happens with the existing lineup. There are too many good hitters who had bad years in 2009 to think 2010 will be a repeat. The reasonable forecast is that most of those hitters will rebound, or top their 2009 efforts.
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tiger hitting woes
the most important move the tigers must do is get a hitting coach. they have not had an acceptable hitting coach since leyland has been here and you sport writers have let him off the hook. Is it bacause the hitting coach is black that you will not critize leyland and mcclendon? The tiger hitters go up to the plate like they don't have a clue on what to do. Every hitter goes thru periods when they get out of wack on how to hit. Those times, they need a coach who can see what the problem is or just suggest a change that can bring the hitter out of the dumps.
last year someone told leyland that he must change pitching coaches and he did. Look at what that move did this year. Now someone must tell him to get a competent hitting coach.
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