Tom Gage

Issues plague Tigers

St. Louis

There are those who claim a team in first place is never in trouble. Or else it wouldn't be in first.

To those, here is proof to the contrary. The Tigers are in trouble.

Manager Jim Leyland calls their problems "major issues." When asked if they seem worse as the Tigers approach the end of their three-city trip than they did at the beginning, he said "no."

I disagree.

The issues the Tigers are facing -- such as the crumbling depth of their rotation, Magglio Ordonez's production slump and a consistently inconsistent offense -- seem much worse now, with one game remaining on their trip, than when they left home.

Forty percent of their rotation is in shambles. Dontrelle Willis no longer will start and Armando Galarraga is on borrowed time.

No one is saying who will replace Willis, but consider this: Saturday's game at home, which would have been Willis' game, could be the day on which Toledo's Luke French will be working with four days rest.

French, who was with the Tigers earlier this season, briefly but impressively enough not to burn a bridge, allowed one run in seven innings while starting for the Mud Hens on Monday night.

If it's not Zach Miner pitching in place of Willis, it could be French, who is 4-4 with a 3.24 ERA.

Galarraga, meanwhile, is winless in his last nine starts. He's pitched well in a few, borderline in others, but unacceptably in several.

The Tigers have been patient with him. They can't afford to be much longer.

One after another, though, there've been pitching issues -- Jeremy Bonderman, back for a start and now possibly out the rest of the season, but certainly for an absence measured in months.

Nate Robertson, hanging on by the thinnest of threads.

Justin Verlander isn't an issue. He's been outstanding. But when he doesn't pitch well, as occurred in Tuesday night's 11-2 loss, a piece of the sky that threatens to fall on the Tigers actually does.

Help needed

The Tigers might survive their major issues if Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello pick up the slack. But that can't be expected in all of their starts.

"He just didn't have it," Leyland said of Verlander's start against the Cardinals. "He's allowed to have that happen. But he's a great pitcher having a great year. He's the least of my problems."

If that's the least, what's the most?

It very well could be the back end of the rotation. The Tigers desperately need someone to come forward as a fourth starter, let alone a fifth, and pitch respectably.

But it's the inadequate production from the lineup the Tigers definitely won't overcome if it continues as its current pace.

There's a difference between issues and major issues with the lineup, however.

For instance, it's an issue that Curtis Granderson went into Wednesday night's game hitting just .256. What keeps him from being a major issue, however, is that his current numbers project to be 102 runs scored with 39 home runs and 97 RBIs for the full season.

So his reduced batting average isn't as significant as it appears.

The loss of Carlos Guillen as a left fielder, per se, also isn't major. Tigers left fielders knocked in 38 runs in the first 65 games. That puts them on a pace for 94 RBIs by the end of the year.

Guillen, as the hitter the Tigers hoped he would be this season, is missed, however -- as was Marcus Thames for the many weeks he was out -- because the Tigers have only 18 RBIs from their designated hitters, the fewest of any team.

That, if you're wondering, is six fewer than Tigers' discard Gary Sheffield has for the Mets.

Obviously one of the solutions to the offensive problems would be more production at DH, which the Tigers can expect now that Thames' is healthy.

Gerald Laird disappeared from the radar after the first three weeks of the season. Through his next 42 games, he hit .165 with one home run and nine RBIs.

A strong lineup can carry one player who's performing admirably on defense -- that would be Laird -- but the Tigers lineup isn't in a position to carry anyone.

Laird must step up. He doesn't have to hit .300, but he can't hit .165 and score only two more runs in 42 games (13-11) than he did in his first 14.

Fading Ordonez

Last, but maybe most, there's the well-documented mystery of Magglio.

Who would have thought after 65 games, Ordonez would have a slugging average lower than Adam Everett, Placido Polanco, Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago -- not to mention current Mud Hens Jeff Larish and Clete Thomas?

He is the definition of a major issue.

And while Ordonez is working hard to find answers, as Leyland also said after Tuesday night's game, "Nothing happens. I wish I had an answer."

More than wishing, though, the Tigers have reached the point of needing answers -- for their lead is built on sinking sand.

tom.gage@detnews.com