27-year old lefty reliever Phil Coke has been solid for the Tigers this year. He has pitched in 59 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this year and he is 7-2 with 1 save, a 2.42 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Coke has only given up 48 hits while whiffing 42 batters in 52 innings pitched as he comes right after batters. Coke also keeps the ball in the park as he has only given up 1 homer this whole year. The big Curtis Granderson/Edwin Jackson trade over the winter looks like a huge win for the Tigers as Austin Jackson, Phil Coke and Max Scherzer have all played/pitched well this year.

27-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera and 32-year old righty reliever Jose Valverde have made the A.L. All-Star Game. Cabrera will be making his fifth All-Star Game appearance of his young career. Cabrera has played in 77 games for the Tigers so far this season and he is 98 of 289 (.339 avg, 1.048 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 20 homers and 69 RBIs. Look for Cabrera to be a finalist for the A.L. MVP Award at the end of this season. Jose Valverde has been unhittable this season. He has pitched in 35 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this year and he is 1-1 with 18 saves, a 0.51 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. Valverde has only given up 11 hits in 35 innings so far this season as he has been a true lockdown closer. This will be Valverde’s second All-Star appearance.

32-year old righty closer Jose Valverde was the final piece the Tigers added before spring training started and he has been awesome this year. Valverde has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this year and he is 1-1 with 14 saves, a 0.64 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. He has only given up 10 hits in 28 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 25 batters. His control has not been that good as he has walked 12 batters this season but it hasn’t been much of an issue because no one ever seems to get a hit off of him. The Tigers’ bullpen is full of very hard throwers and when the set up men get the game to Valverde it is OVER!

25-year old righty reliever Joel Zumaya seems to have finally put everything together on the mound. He has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Tigers so far this season and he is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Zumaya has really learned how to pitch and he has been very aggressive in the strike zone this season for the first time in his career and the results have been outstanding. He has whiffed 26 batters while only walking 4 in 24 innings this season for the Tigers. Zumaya is by far the pitcher I like to watch the most when he comes into a game. He consistently pops his fastball at 102 mph but the sickest pitch he has is a 90+ mph slider with a big break which is almost impossible to hit. The Tigers just hope that Zumaya can stay healthy and focused this season.

25-year old righty starting pitcher Max Scherzer is off to a good start for the Tigers. In his first three starts this season, Scherzer is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He has given up 16 hits in 17 innings but his control has been excellent as he has only walked 5 batters while whiffing 10. Scherzer has outstanding stuff and he is really aggressive especially with his fastball. I don’t see any reason to think that he is going to slow down any time soon.