February 2008

Jim Leyland has come out on several occasions and said that Jeremy Bonderman is one of the keys to any success the Tigers might enjoy in 2008. Bonderman’s second half swoon, which I attribute largely to his elbow pain that he finally fessed up to, clouded what was starting out to be a phenomenal season. An ERA of 8.50 over his last 9 starts, combined with the arm troubles meant that Bonderman finished with the highest ERA and lowest innings total since his rookie season. Like with Dontrelle Willis, we’ll delve into the pitch f/x data and see what we can find out about the veteran 25 year old pitcher.

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credit Roger DeWitt
The first day of official workouts. Now we’re rolling.
Link round up
Catching up with Inge - Detroit Tigers Insider - MLive.comA TALE OF TWO CATCHERSJim Leyland addresses Brandon Inge’s future with TigersLeyland isn’t concerned about lineup, is concerned about bullpenThe Official Site of The Detroit Tigers: News: Notes: Porcello gets first [...]

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While today was officially “Pitchers and Catchers report” day, it was just that. Reporting day. The official workouts don’t begin until tomorrow. Still, the players and beat writers are all in town so the stream of news has started to flow.

The links to the stories are below with my comments to follow:

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Leyland sets new goal for starters
He wants one more out a game from starters, which is a not trivial 54 fewer innings the bullpen will need to pitch. Plus some good stuff on Leyland’s bullpen philosophy - good stuff.

TIGERS IN LAKELAND: Sheffield ‘pain-free’; Zumaya ‘on a mission’ to return early 100%
“I will prove this [...]

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I don’t get it. It seems as if Ramon Santiago is a lock to make the roster but I can’t figure out a good reason why. Lynn Henning said that Santiago’s job is the safest of the bench candidates. Danny Knobler also has Santiago slotted into the bench as an automatic. But should it be a given? Shouldn’t Santiago’s spot be tenuous at best?

I don’t enjoy writing these types of posts. The posts where I spend a few hundred words talking about why a player shouldn’t be with the team. I’m the type who is usually rooting for people, and this is the opposite of my normal tone. But Santiago simply shouldn’t have a guaranteed job on a club of this caliber.

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Photo Credit Roger DeWitt

This picture has nothing to do with the links in the post. I just really liked it. Notice the high socks on Jeremy Bonderman. That has to bode well for the upcoming season. You can see more pictures from Lakeland at both Roger DeWitt’s Flickr page and the [...]

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On Friday Lynn Henning wrote a detailed look at Dontrelle Willis with a heavy emphasis on scouting. I found the article fascinating from the stand point of getting a better understanding of Willis’s repertoire as well as the thought processes that went along with approving the deal for the lefty. He was after all coming off a pretty rough year. I also viewed it as a chance to dust off that pitch f/x database I’ve had sitting dormant and explore whether or not the reports meshed with what the system had reported.

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The Ultimate Pistons Experience - Need4Sheed.com
I posted the link to the contest a while ago, but the winners went to the game this week. The Pistons org hooked up the blog with a suite, a tour, and all kinds of goodness. Very, very cool for the most passionate of fans.

Dan Agonistes: The Traffic [...]

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The Tigers announced that 161 games will be broadcast this season, plus 4 spring training games. Detroit has been tabbed for 8 Saturday broadcasts on Fox and already 2 Sunday night games on ESPN (with the possibility of 3 more). The only game to not be telecast will be August 2nd against the [...]

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Fielding aging curves — The Hardball Times
Get your geek on. Tom Tango delves in to retrosheet data to assess when shortstops peak defensively and the subsequent drop-off.
(tags: sabermetrics defense)

JON PAUL MOROSI: Inside Curtis Granderson’s new contract with the Tigers
Morosi has the details on the scaled option year.
(tags: curtis-granderson)

Baseboogle:
A place to research baseball research

Main Page [...]

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Tigers fans who dig minor league baseball are especially fortunate. The resources covering the Tigers are remarkable and go beyond the work that you’ll find at Baseball America or Minor League Ball. Both of these sites are great, but they have to cover 30 teams’ minor league systems. The Tigers have multiple [...]

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