Mngr: Jim Leyland: A
Pitching Coach: Rick Knapp: A
Hitting Coach: Lloyd McClendon: B-

Miguel Cabrera: A- (has played done exceptionally well on defense if you ask me, also I think he'll have a monster 2nd half like last year)

Placido Polanco: C (there is no reason Polly should be hitting a miserable .256, he's not making much of a case for the Tigs to re-sign him next year)

Adam Everett: A (I think given the expectations and his salary ($1M) we've gotten a solid return on Everett, if he duplicates his stats the next half of the season, we'll be fine)

Ramon Santiago: A (see Everett)

Brandon Inge: A (leads the team in HR & RBI and has played stellar D)

Curtis Granderson: C (yeah his power numbers are way up, but I've been disappointed in his average, the last 2 years he made huge strides in hitting vs. lefties, only to fall back to earth this season for some reason, lets hope for a better 2nd half)

Magglio Ordonez: F (the numbers speak for themselves, and as long as he's in a platoon role, he won't get the PA's necessary to vest his option for next year)

Marcus Thames: B (Injury hampered him the first 2 months, but he's come back and hit some big HR's and has been given the full-time clean-up job)

Clete Thomas: A (although the average isn't stellar, we've gotten some quality production, both offensivey & defensively, out of Clete this year)

Ryan Raburn: A (his .269 avg is one of the best on our teams, he's played LF, RF, 1B, and 3B this year so far, and has a solid .346 OBP in limited playing time, I think he'll get alot more PT in the 2nd half)

Josh Anderson: B (he started out hot, and he's 2nd on the team in SB's, but his avg. isn't great and he offers little power, he'll stick around, solid role player)

Gerald Laird: B (although his average is lousy, he's done exceptionally well from behind the plate, handling the staff and throwing out runners, defensively it's as if Pudge never left)

Carlos Guillen: INC


Justin Verlander: A (rocky start, but dominated from May-June, leads the MLB's in K's, I see no reason to think he'll trip up in the 2nd half, he's the horse)

Edwin Jackson: A+ (the only player who gets an A+ is E-Jax, his numbers are insane, batting average against, ERA, WHIP, this guy has been outstanding, if he had a bit more run support he'd be the front runner for the Cy)

Rick Porcello: A (I have to give him an A because even though his ERA is a bit over 4, he's already surpassed all expectations I had for him this year, I think he'll slip up a start or two in the 2nd half, but he shouldn't tire out given the caution they've used with him)

Armando Galarraga: C+ (was lights out in April, awful in May, decent in June and is 1-1 so far in July, I still think Armando is a good starting pitcher, and he's going to have an important role if we're to make the postseason)

Zach Miner: B (has been unfairly passed over to get his rotation spot back, but he's handeled it well, and for the most part he does his job as a long-man)

Brandon Lyon: B (leads the team in relief innings, had a BRUTAL start to the year, but he's settled down and now boasts a respectable 3.77 ERA)

Joel Zumaya: C+ (he's been lights out in moments this year, but he's choked in some major spots as well)

Ryan Perry: C+ (control problems)

Bobby Seay: A (leads the team in holds, 2.89 ERA, only 8 walks, job well done)

Nate Robertson: D- (I'm hoping we don't have to see him pitch anymore this year, Fu-Te Ni has shown he's more than capable of being the 2nd lefty in the pen)

Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman: INC


Overall Hitting: C+ (I still think our best hitting games are ahead of us this year)

Overall Pitching: B+


Will We Be Playing In October?

I think so. The division isn't very strong and no other team seems to be as well-rounded as the Tigers are. In the 2nd half of the season we have more home games than any other team in baseball. This is good news because we have the fewest home losses than any other team in baseball.

The Twins do hold a mental edge over us (for whatever reason) but whatever that 'edge' is, they don't hold it over anybody else since they are a lousy 39-42 vs. the rest of the league.

We only have 3 more games at the Metrodome and 3 more games in Chicago---that's it.

2nd half schedule breakdown

AWAY

@ NYY (3)
@ BOS (4)
@ LAA (3)
@ OAK (3)
@ CLE (6)
@ CWS (3)
@ MIN (3)
@ TEX (3)
@ TB (3)
@ KC (3)


HOME

SEA (6)
CWS (7)
BAL (4)
MIN (7)
TB (4)
KC (6)
TOR (4)
CLE (3)

Nice, Wil.

tweeted it

good read wil. agree on almost everything.

i think its likely we dont get the same production out of the bottom half of our lineup going forward. that should be offset by a stronger performance from the top of the lineup, though.

i think we'll need 88 wins to get into the playoffs (40-35). doable, but things still need to go right. if our pitching falls off at all, things could get ugly.

im still predicting magglio gets released wednesday. if he's just playing against lefties, is he really even worth a roster spot?

Rodney?

I can't fully agree with an F for Ordonez. It's certainly been very disappointing, but you have to give SOME credit. While there's no way to justify the fact that every single regular (including Polanco and Everett) has a higher slugging %, you still have to give him a little credit for being 5th in hits (with 14 more than 6th place).
The most concerning part with Maggs is that it isn't getting better. Most of his numbers for average came in May, when hit hit .315 and showed he can still get on base at least. But his average has dropped 24 points in the last month. He's going in the wrong direction. Hopefully something happens to help him figure it out, because nobody can go from that good to average overnight. I would be more inclined to go with a D rather than an F, since it could certainly be worse.

Rodney?

My bad, forgot about Rodney.

I'd give Fernando a B+. The fact that he's 20/20 on save's deserves praise. But with that, the fact he's been a complete different pitcher in non-save situations is weird, but not surprising. Afterall, had Lyon had a good spring, Rodney wouldn't be our closer right now.

I can't fully agree with an F for Ordonez. It's certainly been very disappointing, but you have to give SOME credit. While there's no way to justify the fact that every single regular (including Polanco and Everett) has a higher slugging %, you still have to give him a little credit for being 5th in hits (with 14 more than 6th place).
The most concerning part with Maggs is that it isn't getting better. Most of his numbers for average came in May, when hit hit .315 and showed he can still get on base at least. But his average has dropped 24 points in the last month. He's going in the wrong direction. Hopefully something happens to help him figure it out, because nobody can go from that good to average overnight. I would be more inclined to go with a D rather than an F, since it could certainly be worse.

The thing that gets me with Maggs is that he didn't have any type of serious injury that could be used to at least give some excuse as to why he's been struggling.

You can give him a D or an F--coming off a year in which he finished 2nd in the AL in hitting and had over 100+ RBI's--either grade works to show the type of drop-off he's endured.