Who Is In More Trouble?

[NYgiantsfan5689]

ESPN.com Chat with Jayson Stark

Who is in more trouble? The Tigers or the Rockies?

My Opinion:
THE ROCKIES. The Tigers are in a division where the Royals and White Sox are the first two teams. They'll be fine. They have that ridiculous lineup, and Verlander isn't going to give up 9 runs in 5.1 innings. Remember, 5 of those 9 runs were unearned. This lineup will pick it up, and the pitching is better than they are showing.
The Rockies, on the other hand, are the ones in question. Yes, they can win 21 out of 22. But they are also in a division in which 4 of the 5 teams are capable of winning the division (sorry giants fans). Their last 3 starting pitchers: Ubaldo Jiminez, Kip Wells, and Franklin Morales. Not lookin so good there. Their offense is obviously able to crank up the volume at any point, but can their pitching keep up? The entire bullpen looks very good so far (Fuentes, Corpas, Buchholz, Herges, and Bowie have not given up a run in 7.1 innings), but they are in trouble if the rest of the division keeps the pace up. I'm not saying they're in major trouble, but they are DEFINATLY in more trouble than the Tigers, and alarm bells should be starting to purr inside Clint Hurdle's head.

Your thoughts?

[ljshorty89]

I agree completely. The Tigers have the competition from the Indians, but they aren't dominating either. The teams that are doing well in the AL Central won't continue it, whereas the good teams in the NL West will continue to be good.

[Rockiesfan_H]

Hard to argue, except yesterday Morales pitched a gem (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER) and the bullpen choked it away. Of course, if the offense would put more than 2 runs up then maybe that would help a little.

[Dry1313]

Tigers...ancient pitching, older players, and the injury bug is hitting already


Rockies should even out VERY soon

[love_that_reefer]

Can I go with neither team?

[Pronk48]

I would say it's the Rockies only because they are in such a tough division.

However, the Tigers do have a sorry bullpen and their starting pitching is very questionable outside of Verlander. The White Sox can probally stay competitive in the division, plus the Indians will be good.

[love_that_reefer]

Look, the Tigers have trade bait to get pitching in Thames and Inge. The Rockies have a deep team and a powerful offense. Neither team is sweating anything.

[Kingdom]

Detroit has to rely on Willis, Bonderman, Kenny Rogers, Todd Jones, Fernando Rodney... is Andy Van Hekken still there? Perhaps Mike Maroth should come back. Zumaya is due for an injury from playing ping pong too hard.

[realmofotalk]

Shane Loux, Seth Greisinger, Nate Cornejo, Brian Powell, Gary Knotts, and Adam Bernero!

[hot_corner_gurl]

I say Tigers. Both divisions are really tough, but I say the Tigers are in more trouble. The Rockies have a better/easier chance of snapping out of it (i think) because their pitching is deeper than that of the Tigers, and they are in a very hitter-friendly ballpark. Which has not been so friendly as of late, but either way I think they've got the edge.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

I say Tigers. Both divisions are really tough, but I say the Tigers are in more trouble. The Rockies have a better/easier chance of snapping out of it (i think) because their pitching is deeper than that of the Tigers, and they are in a very hitter-friendly ballpark. Which has not been so friendly as of late, but either way I think they've got the edge.

How is the Rockies' pitching deeper?? The Tigers have Verlander, Rogers, and Bonderman who can easily snap out of their funk. The Rockies have.......Aaron Cook?

[hot_corner_gurl]

I meant their bullpen. Buchholz and Herges are looking pretty good so far for the Rockies (although Vizcaino just went on the DL). The Tigers have Grilli, Beltran, Miner, all with God awful appearences. And yes, Verlander, Rogers, Bonderman, they can snap out of it, but two bad starts for Verlander and another start coming up against the Sox (who he has terrible number against), it's not looking good. If you ace can't get a win, or atleast give a solid performance and keep his team close, how do you expect anyone else in that rotation to do so?

[love_that_reefer]

The Rockies have Francis, Cook, Wells, Morales, Redman, Jimenez and Jason Hirsh when he comes back, all of who can start. Tigers aren't as deep as in the rotation or the bullpen.