Tigers' extended slump might just be reality for team in 2024

It's been a bad stretch for the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers have played their last six games on the road and they've only got one win to show for it. Most recently, Detroit was trounced by the Atlanta Braves 7-0 on Wednesday.

"Right now we're not in a good place and when that piles up on you a little bit, even though you try to separate each individual at-bat, it's tough," manager A.J. Hinch told reporters including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. "It's time to go home. This was not a good trip,"

"It's rough. It was not a good road trip for us," outfielder Riley Greene added. "But we can't really think about that. We get an off day tomorrow to relax and reset and just flush it. Then we will show up on Friday ready to get after it."

The Tigers want to flush this road trip, but they're failing to see the big picture. Yes, it was a tough stretch of games, but it hasn't just been this road trip. Detroit is 3-10 in its last 13 games and ever since the Tigers came out to a red-hot 5-0 start, they've played 29-40 baseball.

Truth is, it hasn't just been this stretch. Truth is, the Tigers just aren't a good baseball team. Former NFL head coach Bill Parcells once famously said that "You are what your record says you are", and this Tigers team is currently six games under .500 and 12.5 games out of first place in the American League Central.

Even when you dig deeper into the numbers, things aren't looking good for Detroit. Veteran bats Gio Urshela and Mark Canha were brought in to provide stability toward the back of the lineup.

Urshela's OPS is .687 and Canha hasn't hit a home run since May 11. Yet they've been regularly featured batting between third and sixth in Hinch's lineups. And, frankly, he hasn't had much of a choice.

Kerry Carpenter has been injured, Spencer Torkelson was so bad that he was sent back down to Triple-A Toledo and Colt Keith — once thought to be a promising rookie — is hitting .299 with just three homers and an OPS of .582.

The Tigers are falling fast out of the expanded Wild Card race. At this rate, it may not be long before they'll have little to play for.

That's tough to swallow for any franchise, but especially for one that hasn't made the playoffs since 2014 and hasn't had a winning season since 2016. 

If this extended slump is the reality for the 2024 Tigers, it's going to be a long season.