In 2010, the injury-plagued Tigers played to a .500 record. They were great in Tiger Stadium, and awful everywhere else. The laundry list of injuries included Guillen, Valverde, Zumaya, Ordonez, Inge, Cabrera, and Damon. It’s practically a miracle they didn’t have a losing record.

It’s unrealistic to expect the Tigers injury woes to match last season’s, yet completely realistic to expect Jackson, Scherzer, Porcello, and Coke to continue to improve. There is a huge veteran presence in Detroit with Cabrera, Martinez, Ordonez, Guillen, and Verlander, so I’m expecting big things from this team.

Key Additions: Victor Martinez, Brad Penny, Joaquin Benoit

Key Losses: Johnny Damon, Jeremy Bonderman, Armando Galaragga, Gerald Laird

Lineup:

C: Alex Avila
1B: Miguel Cabrera
2B: Carlos Guillen
3B: Brandon Inge
SS: Jhonny Peralta
LF: Ryan Raburn
CF: Austin Jackson
RF: Magglio Ordonez
DH: Victor Martinez

Rotation:

1:  Justin Verlander
2: Max Scherzer
3: Rick Porcello
4: Phil Coke
5: Brad Penny
CL: Jose Valverde

Critical Players to Success:

Magglio Ordonez: The Tigers really missed Magglio when he broke his ankle. Now that he’s healthy, the tigers have a very complete lineup.

Rick Porcello: After being one of the top prospects in the minors, Porcello has failed to impress in the majors. If he can keep his WHIP down, he should have a big year, and the Tigers will have 3 seriously high quality pitchers atop their rotation.