The Tigers made a run deep in the playoffs as the underrdog past the New York Yankees, only to fall to the Texas Rangers. Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander finally threw an entire season of quality pitching and Miguel Cabrera either quit drinking all together or hit .338 drunk, which I would prefer to think. Throw into the mix Prince Fielder hitting after Miggy and you are looking at a team that is no longer an underdog against anyone.
The combination of two boom sticks has been common on good teams with tandems of Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz, last year’s Brew Crew included Fielder and Ryan Braun, and the Yankees have Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. The pair of Fielder and Braun proved to be phenomenal and led to both players having top-5 MVP-type numbers, ending with Braun taking the MVP. This year, it is Fielder behind Cabrera, who is the top choice in fantasy baseball this year, and should provide the top reality. The protection that Fielder provides will allow Cabrera and the other young players in the lineup to see much better quality of pitches and take off pressure to drive in runs. But the lineup is more than just Prince and Cabrera, right?
The names Austin Jackson, Ryan Raburn, Brennan Boesch, and Alex Avila are among the young players that could have their best seasons ever with the protection from the big boys. Avila was last year’s All-Star selection at catcher; while Raburn, Boesch, and Jackson all have the potential to join him if they continue to improve. The pitching staff, also young, has shown similar growth with steady improved in numbers following the lead of Verlander. A great anchor waits through the door in Jose Valverde. All of these key parts point to a big season with a high win total that could beat last year’s 95-67 finish. Bovada.com only has the over/under for total wins at 91.5 with -115 for both. Taking into account the addition of Fielder, Verlander getting into his prime, and the youngn’s in the lineup, and you have a formula that can go all the way. Dating back all the way back to 2007, the Tigers have only won over 88 games once – and that was last year. The big increase in wins came from the growth of the team finally showing on the field, warranting fans to believe another surge is in order. As long as they put Prince in charge of guarding the liquor cabinet in Miguel’s locker, a championship could come before Jim Leyland is 100.
2012 Detroit Tigers Over/Under Regular Season Wins – available for betting at Bovada
See other teams 2012 MLB over/under win props by clicking the preceding link.