Getting on base does no good if the Tigers can't stay there.
It's as if the Detroit Tigers have forgotten how to play fundamental baseball. It doesn't take much to see the offense is struggling, its starting pitching is up and down, and most recently, the bullpen has been taxed. When they get on base, the offense can't stay out of its own way to stay there. The patient at-bats have all but disappeared. It's puzzling, and an answer for what's wrong with the team might not be easy to find.
Two of those first three factors have predominantly been the result of spot starts, due to unpreventable circumstances -- when Kyle Lobstein went on the 15-day disabled list and Alfredo Simon went on the bereavement list for his ailing father (who has since passed away, according to his Instagram).