The Tiger's team batting of .264 is not translating to runs scored. Perhaps bumping Cabera to 4ht and Prince to 5th will generate runs similar to how Cabrera/Martinez did last year? Barring a player transaction, this is a move that "might" put more runners on base when Cabrera hits. The key here would be someone with a good OBP so currently that would probably be Avila/Laird hitting 3rd, until Dirks returns.

Therefore, today's lineup would look something like this:

Berry LF
Jackson CF
Avila C
Cabrera 3B
Fielder 1B
Peralta SS
Boesch RF
Santiago 2B
Verlander P

Of course we could try the Billy Martin approach and pick the lineup out of a hat.

Yikes! You want Avila batting 3rd? I guess Cabrera leading off the 2nd inning every game might be a way for him to see better pitches.

Frankly, Cabby would be a lot better off if he would take the 1st pitch every single AB. He's a better hitter than Joe Mauer by a mile and Mauer, never, never swings at the 1st pitch. There must be some tracker somewhere that tells what counts hitters get into and it just seems to me that Cabby is 0-2 at least 1/2 his AB's.

Avila still has a .330 obp. Dirks would be a better fit to hit 3rd in this model, when he returns. Also, I think Avila would see better pitches hitting 3rd and it may ignite him a bit. Can it really hurt to try?

So your theory is somehow the team will get better, if you bat your better hitters less? Solving your #5 hitter problem by creating a problem higher in the order isn't going to fix anything.

You want Avila hitting third?

This is dumber than the Wandy bit

The Tigers two best hitters last year were Cabrera and V-Mart ..and they batter 4th and 5th.
I think it is worth a try to do the same this year with Cabrera and Fielder.

The Tigers didn't play better last year because the 5th hitter was hitting. They played better because the entire team was hitting!

Maybe the other batters might start hitting better if Cabby batted 4th and P. Fielder batted 5th.

The lineup worked last year ..it is obviously not working this year.

No simply move whoever happens to be the Tigers' next hottest hitter after Fielder. They need to quit hoping Young starts hitting.

Berry or Santiago in the 5th hole?

Almost everybody agrees ..Young needs to go.

Last year the offense was pretty good with 'best and 2nd best' hitters batting 4th and 5th.

So what do the Tigers do? They mess that successful strategy up ..and then everybody wonders why we cannot score runs. Maybe its time to try it this year ..because I cannot imagine it could get any worse.

Get Quentin and have it happen.

I was against getting Quentin ..but now I am for it.

BTW, another outfielder the Tigers could have gotten hit a 2 run go ahead HR in the 9th off Aroldis Chapman, for his 15th HR and 49th RBI, to go with his .937 OPS.

Josh Willingham would have been a great fit for this team, a professional hitter, plays corner outfield position, hits for power, but can take some walks.

Ajax
QB
Dirks/Boesch
Cabby
Fielder
Dirks/Boesch (DH)
Peralta
Avila/Laird
Santiago/Raburn

This is a not a bad lineup if attempting to get more runners on base in front of Cabby/Fielder. Cabby and Fielder are the best RBI men in the game...... therefore, they should be number ONE and TWO in RBI totals ..... not number 2 and number 10 or whatever. AND that was one reason why everyone predicted the Tigers would mash is because they had the BEST two RBI men in the league. It is the batters ahead of Cabby and Fielder who are getting the job done..... so why not put another good batter ahead of them?? What I don't understand is that it is worth a try but JL refuses to do it..... just like he refuses to take DY out of the number 5 hole. How long do you have to go before you realize something else needs to at least be given a try?

The problem is Dirks is hitting .208 against lefties but .355 against righties..... but Boesch hits lefties better than righties. The number 5 hole is a KEY RBI hole...... usually have the most runners on base. Plus anyone who bats IN FRONT of Cabby usually does well.... i.e. they get good pitches to hit. Plus when you have someone else in the three hole and QB is on first he will be standing on 2nd after the first pitch. NOT running QB because you are afraid Cabby will be walked is just not right unless you are trying to keep the hole open between first and second.

Once VMart comes back then you can go with Cabby- 3rd, Fielder-4th and VMart-5th.

Avila has a better OBP than anyone else, until Dirks returns. I believe he will see better pitches to hit.

And yes I would still deal for Wandy and Lyon!

Well there is a lot of logic there

Except Peralta has a higher OBP than Avila's and Avila's fairly good % is a carry over from before he was sidelined .

As far as I can remember he did not get the ball out of the infield in 11 or 12 tries in this series.

The one thing I am totally confident about is that from the group of Avila, Peralta, Young, Boesch, and Raburn ..is that Avila will start hitting much much better this year before all the others. Avila's swing is just so much more natural than all those other hitters and he has an almost 'effortless' power stroke that is generated by his quick wrists.
The only thing that I am worried about with Avila is whether he is playing injured and might aggravate it to the point that we lose him for the rest of the season.

That's just my own personal opinion ..and other's may disagree.