Every major-league team has players that go through slumps.
The problem for the Tigers is that they have two players that are struggling badly, and they happen to be two players they can't afford to replace.
Tuesday, those problems helped cause the Tigers another game, as Shane Greene didn't make it out of the third inning of a 5-2 loss to the White Sox while Victor Martinez went 0-for-4 at the plate.
Greene started the season looking like the next Tigers Cy Young winner, going 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA in his first three starts, but it didn't last. In the next three, his ERA has been 16.36 and opponents are hitting .460 against him, including 9-for-18 with runners in scoring position.
"I don't know," he said. "This isn't the first time this has happened to me, and it probably won't be the last. I just have to keep working and try to be the same pitcher every day."
On Tuesday, he added control trouble, walking four of the 15 batters he faced, including one with the bases loaded.
"He's having trouble throwing strikes," Brad Ausmus said. "But he thought he had found some things between his last start and this one, so we have some idea of what we're looking at, and I've already talked to Jeff (Jones) about it."
The Tigers knew it might not be a smooth ride with Greene -- he had only made 14 career starts before this season -- but they weren't expecting lefthanded batters to hit him like a combination of Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.
For Greene, it comes down to having to make the same kind of adjustment period that most young pitchers deal with after the league has seen them a couple times. For Martinez, it isn't that simple.
When Martinez tore his meniscus this spring and the surgeon only trimmed out the tear instead of doing a full repair, it was originally seen as good news. The minor version of the operation meant that he was back in time for Opening Day, instead of missing several weeks of action.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, his return came at a cost, and it has turned out to be bigger than anyone expected. Without the full repair, which couldn't be done because of the amount of damage his knee has sustained over the years, Martinez looks nothing like the MVP candidate of a year ago.
After hitting a career-best 32 homers in 2014 and matching a career high with 65 extra-base hits, Martinez has generated almost no offense this season. He's batting .203 without a homer, and when he does make solid contact, his lack of foot speed -- he's almost certainly the slowest everyday player in the league -- limits him to one base at a time.
In 25 games, his only extra-base hit was a double that bounced into the stands, meaning he didn't have to run.
The obvious solution to the problem would be to put Martinez on the disabled list, but not only do the Tigers not have a good candidate to replace him, it probably wouldn't help. While he can still play, a full recovery from the surgery takes several months, not a matter of weeks.
Will Carroll, a sportswriter who specializes in reporting on injuries, said Tuesday he did not believe Martinez would get much benefit from a short DL stint. Dr. Robert Rogowski, a physical therapist who blogs about the Tigers, agreed.
Martinez's knee should improve slightly as the season goes on, but it could be a long process for a player that was expected to play a huge role in this year's offense.
