Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
If you trust the Vegas odds-makers, yesterday’s matchup between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was a preview of the upcoming ALCS. The Yanks prevailed 3-2 last evening with the help of 11 combined K’s and a long blast from Carlos Beltran. What do the mixed results from the offenses of both teams so far mean for the upcoming regular season?
After today’s 3-2 victory over the Tigers, the Yankees rank 13th in the MLB in team batting average during this year’s Spring Training. New York newcomer Beltran went yard today for the second time this spring, making him and second baseman Yangervis Solarte the only Yankees with multiple homers so far (each of them only have two). Nine different Yankees have gone deep this spring. Whether this is a strength of the 2014 team or a sign of weakness depends entirely on the notoriously critical Yankee fans.
Sitting directly behind New York at 14th place for team average is Detroit. Despite their passable team average, Tigers fans still have uncertainties. Detroit’s power numbers are noteworthy right now for all the wrong reasons. While the Yankees lead the league along with two other teams for the most home runs with 11, the Tigers have only hit two homers, which is the league’s lowest. Despite a .385 average, only one of Miguel Cabrera‘s hits this year yielded extra bases.
Should fans of either team be mortified by this lack of offensive consistency? Not by a long shot. In fact, none of the five best hitting teams from last year’s Spring Training reached the postseason in 2013. I may not be going out on a limb with this statement, but I’d bet that Cabrera is going to be productive this year, regardless of what his lack of pop in Spring Training would seemingly portend.
Doug LaCerte is a writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.
