Detroit Tigers Betting - Huge Loss for Detroit as Martinez Tears ACL

• Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

  By  Jim Sanders

  

  You can probably forget about the Detroit Tigers making noise this season in the American League. Last year Detroit Tigers betting was successful but this year, before the season has even begun, the Tigers suffered a huge loss as designated hitter Victor Martinez tore the ACL in his left knee.

  Martinez tore his left ACL in offseason conditioning and is expected to miss most or all of the 2012 season. Martinez is expected to undergo surgery and the Tigers are not counting on him this year. And the loss of Martinez is huge. He hit .330 with 103 RBIs last season for the Tigers. He provided great protection in the middle of the lineup for Miguel Cabrera. He played 145 games for Detroit and was considered one of the leaders in the clubhouse.

  Last year the Tigers won because of their offense as they were 4th best in the league and because they had Justin Verlander. It is going to be a lot more difficult this season for Detroit to win unless they make a major deal for a big bat to replace Martinez. The Tigers simply don’t have anyone who can replace Martinez in the lineup. Without some protection in the lineup you can also expect Cabrera’s numbers to drop. The Tigers got career years out of catcher Alex Avila and shortstop Jhonny Peralta and they can’t count on that happening again.

  The Tigers were the favorites to win the AL Central before Martinez got injured. Now it becomes a much tighter race and it is not a given that Detroit Tigers betting will be successful in 2012. A lot of things went Detroit’s way in 2012 as they won the AL Central by 15 games and made it to AL Championship before losing to Texas. It is early with MLB futures not on the board yet at the sportsbook but that will change in the next few weeks. Keep this injury to Martinez in mind when you look at the Tigers as you may want to go against them in 2012.