Oakland A’s rookie Brent Rooker is the lone selected A’s player representative at the 2023 All Star Game in Seattle. Rooker is seen here taking his hacks against the Kansas City Royals on Fri May 5, 2023 (AP News file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are heading to Detroit to start a six-game road trip and open a series on Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers (37-49) at Comerica Park in Detroit. The A’s finished their last homestand against the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox with three wins and three losses. The most intriguing game during the homestand was the Yankees’ Domingo German’s perfect game last Wednesday night.

The A’s will play three against the Tigers starting Tuesday night. They finish the road trip with three against the Boston Red Sox in historic Fenway Park. The A’s will then be off until July 14th due to the annual All-Star game that will be held in Seattle this year. Brent Rooker will be the sole Oakland Athletic named to the AL All-Star team.

Let’s take a look at this year’s Tiger team. The Tigers last had success several years ago. Their last World Series appearance was in 2012, and that team was swept four straight by the San Francisco Giants. The Tigers and A’s, two iconic franchises, have been playing against each other since 1901. Like the A’s, the Tigers are not stockpiled with well-known names.

Their best player, Miguel Cabrera, is in his final season. In his 20th season, Cabrera broke into baseball with the then-Florida Marlins in 2003. Cabrera was instrumental in the Marlins’ stunning upset of the New York Yankees in the World Series.

The Marlins traded Cabrera to the Tigers a few years later, and Cabrera has posted numbers that will take him to baseball’s Hall of Fame. Cabrera is a lifetime .307 hitter. He has recorded 3,127 hits, 508 home runs, and 1,859 RBIs. He owns a lifetime .904 OPS(on-base plus slugging percentage.) Cabrera has yet to play much this year. If he does play, he will be the DH.

The Tigers infielder will feature Spencer Torkelson at first base, Zach McKinstry at Second, the veteran Javier Baez at shortstop, and Andy Ibanez at third base. Baez starred with the Chicago Cubs for seven years and won a World Series ring with the Cubs in 2016 when the Cubs ended a 108-year drought.

The outfield will have Akil Baddoo in left, Jake Marisnick, a former Oakland Athletic, in center, and Matt Vierling in right. Backups are Tyler Nevin and Kerry Carpenter. Carpenter will also be seen as the Tigers’ DH.

The A’s will have JP Sears on the hill Tuesday night. Sears will be looking for his second win of the year. The Tigers will counter with lefty Tark Skubal. Skubal has no record, and it will be his first appearance this season.

The A’s have not announced their starters for the Wednesday and Thursday games. The Tigers will have another lefty, Eduardo Rodriguez (4-4, 2.13 ERA), handling the pitching chores. Michael Lorenzon will start for the Tigers on Thursday.

The Tigers’ are four games behind the AL Central leaders, the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are in first place with a record of 42-43. There is no team in the Central Division with a winning record. The A’s are now 23-63 for the year. The A’s do not want to set the record for most losses in a season. Oakland has some bright spots in their lineup.

Brent Rooker leads the team with 14 home runs. Rooker will represent Oakland a week from Tuesday at the All-Star game. Another bright spot has been the play of Esteury Ruiz. Ruiz is leading all of baseball with 41 steals. He had played well defensively in center field. He is hitting about. 260 has been able to hit in the clutch with men in scoring position. Ryan Noda has shown potential at first base. Noda has a great eye at the plate. He has walked 57 times and has an OPS of .374.

The Tigers’ pitching staff is better than the A’s on paper. The Tigers’ run differential is minus 76. That means the Tigers’ pitching has allowed 74 more runs than the runs provided by the Tigers’ offense. The A’s run differential is a staggering -237.

The A’s rotation has been a disaster for most of the season. The A’s Paul Blackburn returned to action after a stint on the IL. Blackburn, an All-Star in 2022, pitched well for his first three or four starts. The White Sox sent him to an early shower on Sunday as they beat the A’s 8-7.

Blackburn lost his first game this year. The A’s bullpen has also been an arson squad. The A’s have been shuttling pitchers back and forth from their minor league team in Las Vegas.

After the three games with the Tigers, the A’s face the Red Sox in Boston. A’s manager Mark Kotsay would love to win both series. Players and fans alike know that anything can happen in a short series. No one would have ever expected Domingo German to throw a perfect game. The A’s could win all six games. They could lose all six. Baseball is so unpredictable. That’s why people love the game.

Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com