The Tigers are getting popular. Winning will do that.
- In his blog, Buster Olney excerpted some information from an upcoming ESPN the Magazine article about Joel Zumaya
That was only the first time. Several talent evaluators who saw Zumaya in spring training believe he has the best fastball anywhere. “In the world,” says a rival executive. “The best pure stuff of any pitcher in pro ball,” says one scout.
- Everybody has probably seen the Tigers near the tops of the Fox’s, ESPN, etc. power rankings. Sabermetric blog Beyond the Boxscore is also a fan
Detroit Tigers (+4) – Yep, your Detroit Tigers are this year’s “fluke early emergence” that could parlay itself all the way to a postseason birth. I’m very impressed in the early going, and these guys have pitched really, really well. Their “Base Runs” allowed is at 85 in 28 games. Which essentially means that their opponents are only producing enough offense to score 3 R/G. That won’t last, but remember, you can’t take away the 10 games over .500.
- John Sickels did a community projection for Justin Verlander. The results are favorable and I’d be very satisfied with a 3.75 ERA and 14 wins.
- Larry Parrish will manage in the International League All Star game.
That’s a pretty optimistic projection. I’d laugh all the way to the bank if he pulled that off. Bondo still hasn’t touched those numbers.
Here’s some more national attention from the New York Times:
Shock and Roar: Tigers Play Ball
Link is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/sports/baseball/05tigers.html
BPro is projecting the Tigers to have 103 wins. That’s not a typo.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_oddspec.php
The BP projections give the Tigers a 75 percent chance of making the playoffs. That’s obviously a bit overstated, but I’ll take anything near 50 percent at this point in the season.