MLB's best-kept secret: Tigers rotation

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers clubhouse doors opened Thursday after their latest victory, and pitcher Max Scherzer was running around to different lockers, getting teammates to sign the back of the scorecard.

Hmm, maybe because Scherzer had just become the first Tigers pitcher to start a season 8-0 since Jeremy Bonderman in 2007?

Or perhaps because he had just become the first pitcher to produce 100 strikeouts in the Tigers' first 58 games since 1972?

Sorry to disappoint, but it had nothing to do with baseball nostalgia, Scherzer says. He was in charge of collecting money and picks for the team's pool for the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

"I've got the Heat in 5," he says.

"I've got the Tigers in 4," I say.

We might be in the first week of June, but odds are it's going to be really tough to beat these guys — now and in October. It's kind of stunning every time they lose a game.

Forget about that lethal offense, the 3-4 punch of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder and their combined 29 home runs and 114 RBI.

I'm talking the best-kept secret in baseball.

The Tigers starting rotation.

The rotation is so imposing that the Tigers feel confident, if not cocky, about their chances Friday even with their No. 4 starter going against the Cleveland Indians.

The dude's name is Justin Verlander, and even though the 2011 Cy Young winner and MVP is 7-4 with a 3.70 ERA, he has three teammates pitching even better these days.

"This is the best starting rotation I've ever had," manager Jim Leyland told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. "No doubt about it."

This is not only the best starting rotation in baseball, but, as one Tigers pitcher suggested, Detroit also might have four of the top 10 starters in the American League. There is no break in any series, particularly with fifth starter Rick Porcello (2-3, 5.21 ERA) dominant in six of his last seven starts.

"We feed off each other, but we've also pushed the bar so dang high," said Scherzer, who yielded four hits and struck out nine in seven innings Thursday in the Tigers' 5-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays. "What everybody is doing is just pushing the bar higher and higher, and everybody wants to try and match that."

If it's not Anibal Sanchez — whom Scherzer calls the best pitcher in the AL — throwing one-hit ball for eight innings with 17 strikeouts, it's Scherzer retiring 22 consecutive batters. If it's not Fister pitching seven scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts, it's Porcello with eight scoreless innings and 11 strikeouts.

The rotation produced 203 strikeouts in May, the third-highest total of any month in major league history. In the last two weeks, Tigers starters have yielded a 2.49 ERA, striking out 114 in 94 innings, with a quality start in 12 of their last 13 games.

"These guys are unbelievable," Tigers closer Jose Valverde said. "What they are doing right now is crazy."

You know it's a magnificent rotation when Leyland's biggest concern is the offense. The Tigers have been shut out six times — twice more than a year ago. They've lost 15 games when their pitchers have produced a quality start, and they've been held scoreless in the first eight innings in three of their last nine games.

"That's what's been frustrating, wasting these good pitching performances," Leyland says.

Yet, as anyone from Little League to the Hall of Fame can tell you, pitching wins the hardware.

Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter will even let you in on a little secret. He didn't sign with the Tigers for the privilege of playing alongside Cabrera and Fielder. He came to Detroit, he said Thursday, because he saw a rotation capable of carrying a team to a World Series parade.

"I've never been on a team with this kind of rotation," Hunter said. "This is the best, by far.

"Hey, offense is cool, and it's great playing with a guy like Miguel Cabrera. But what I love about this team is the pitching.

"I've been to the ALCS twice and lost. I've lost four times in the division series. But when a team has a pitching rotation like this, they don't lose in the playoffs."

It might be premature to be planning the Tigers' parade route along Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, but as long as the rotation stays healthy, and Cabrera and Fielder are breathing, there is not a more dangerous team in baseball.

Leyland might believe it, but you won't get him to publicly say it.

"That tends to piss people off," Leyland said. "I found out a long time ago, it's best to keep your mouth shut.

"I'll throw out the kudos after we win something."

Leyland has about five months to get that speech ready.