Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-18-08

Toledo 8 Lehigh Valley 3
Matt Joyce stroked his 5th homer and added a triple and a walk. Jeff Larish and Jackson Melian each had 2 hits. Eddie Bonine allowed 2 runs over 8 innings with no walks and 4 K’s.

Erie 13 Altoona 4
Ryan Roberson homered twice, walked, and knocked in 4 runs. Dusty Ryan had 2 doubles and a single. Danny Worth singled and walked twice. Andrew Kown allowed 11 hits, including 3 homers, but somehow only 4 runs crossed the plate in 7 innings of work.

Tampa 1 Lakeland 4
Jeramy Laster homered and doubled. Michale Bertram added two hits. Luis Marte was awesome allowing just 2 hits in 8 innnings of shut out ball. He fanned 7 and walked 4.

Burlington 3 West Michigan 0
Some kid by the name of Curtis Granderson had half the hits including a triple. Manny Miguelez fanned 7 over 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk.

Game 17: Tigers at Blue Jays

PREGAME: You know that both Kenny Rogers and Toronto starter David Purcey have received the exact same run support so far this season? The difference is tonight will be Purcey’s first start and it will be Kenny’s 4th. That’s right, the Tigers have been shut out in all 3 of his starts. Of course Rogers hasn’t pitched so great either. He had a quality start his first time out but hasn’t made it out of the 5th inning in the two starts since.

On the other side Purcey will be making his first start. The 2004 1st round pick of the Jays has a 21:6 strike out to walk ratio in two AAA starts this year.

DET @ TOR, Friday, April 18, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME
: So the Tigers exercised considerable patience early in this game picking up 5 walks in the first two innings but they couldn’t hit Purcey. If Purcey can get a handle on where the ball is going he could be trouble because the Tigers couldn’t hit him.

Although Jim Leyland did help him out by giving away an out when he called for a sac bunt in the 2nd inning following back to back walks. I’ll never understand letting a struggling pitcher off the hook with a sac bunt. It’s one thing if a guy is dealing and you get a double and want to scratch across a run. But that clearly wasn’t the case tonight.

Kenny Rogers turned in a solid outing going 6 2/3 inning and allowing 4 runs so it wasn’t quite a quality start. The 4 walks are still troublesome, as is the one strike out. But he was effective allowing only 3 hits.

The Tigers offense continues to swing it, at least off the bullpen. Seven of their 10 hits went for doubles and the did a nice job stringing them together.

For the second time this week Edgar Renteria belted a first pitch homer that would provide a nice cushion.

And is there anyone having as much fun out there as Miguel Cabrera? He just seems to love the game and it’s fun to watch. So is seeing him knock a couple doubles on his birthday and steal a base.

Finally, a nice job by Aquilino Lopez, Denny Bautista, and Todd Jones. Jones had some kind of mechanical flaw where he couldn’t get the ball down and walked two straight. A short chat with Chuck Hernandez and the game was over 5 pitches later.

Programming note

I’ll be making another appearance on It is what it is with Sean Baligian. You can listen in on WDFN 1130 or wdfn.com starting at 10:35 a.m. on Friday morning.

UPDATE: It will be 11:05 instead.

UPDATE 2: The segment is on the WDFN podcast page if you’re interested.

[audio:http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/DETROIT-MI/WDFN-AM/ferris.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=DETROIT-MI&NG_FORMAT=sports&SITE_ID=1128&STATION_ID=WDFN-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=Sports_Radio_1130_WDFN&PCAST_CAT=sports&PCAST_TITLE=WDFN_-_Sean_Baligian]

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-17-08

Toledo 4 Lehigh Valley 1
Caonabo Cosme went 3 for 3 with a homer. Jeff Larish singled, doubled, and had 2 walks. Chris Lambert pitched 7 innings of 4 hit ball with only 1 run crossing the plate. He struck out one and walked three. Blaine Neal allowed 2 hits, but also struck out the side for his 5th save. He now has 12 K’s in 7 innings of work.

Erie 1 Altoona 6
Jeff Frazier homered, doubled and walked. For the season he has a 320/414/580 line with only 3 K’s in 50 at-bats. Lucas French allowed 5 runs, 3 earned, on 5 hits and 3 walks in 5.1 innings.

Lakeland – DNP

West Michigan – DNP

Game 16: Tigers at Indians

The Natural Lightning BoltPREGAME: The Tigers will try to keep rolling along as they send Justin Verlander out to do battle with Fausto Carmona.

Verlander is coming off his best start of the season, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at his final line. He had allowed just 1 run through the first 7 innings against the White Sox on Saturady before things fell apart for him in the 8th. Verlander has struggled against the Indians historically. Last year he allowed 7 runs in 3 of his 5 starts against them, including a 4 homer effort in September.

Carmona’s stats just don’t add up for the Tribe this year. He has 17 walks and only 8 strikeouts in 16 innings so far. Eight of those walks came in his last start against the A’s. Yet his ERA is 2.20. Part of the reason is he’s only allowed 1 extra base hit. Another part of the explanation is his power sinker induces double play balls and opponents have hit into 7 in his 3 games.

DET @ CLE, Thursday, April 17, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: I really have very little to say about this one. I missed the first couple innings while coaching my son’s team. Saw the blow-up in the middle innings, and that’s about it. Verlander seemed to be hitting 94 mph a little more and it came at the expense of his control. I wonder if it was a situation like Todd Jones in spring training where he was over throwing because of all the velocity concerns. Or perhaps he just didn’t have it again.

And the offense generated some chances but couldn’t capitalize. These games are a lot less worrisome after a 3 game win streak.

links for 2008-04-17

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-16-08

Toledo 6 Lehigh Valley 4
Timo Perez and Mike Hessman each hit long balls. Brent Clevlen added 2 hits. Jeremy Johnson lasted 5 innings giving up 4 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks. Blaine Neal got his 4th save fanning 2 and allowing a hit in one inning of work.

Bowie 10 Erie 11
Wilkin Ramirez, Deik Scram, Dusty Ryan, Max St. Pierre, and Danny Worth all had multi-hit games. Scram hit his 2nd homer of the season. Ben Fritz was knocked around for 8 runs in just 4.2 innings.

Sarasota 2 Lakeland 6
Cale Iorg continues to rip the ball picking up his 3rd homer, a double, and a walk. James Skelton singled and walked twice. Michael Bertram had 2 hits and a walk. Matt O’Brien gets the win allowing 2 runs on 8 h its, no walks, and 2 K’s in 6 innings.

West Michigan 1 Peoria 2 (11 innings)
Jordan Newton and Joe Tucker each had 2 hits. Casper Wells drew 3 walks. Phil Nardozi started and allowed 1 run in 3 innings on 2 hits and a walk.

Carlos Guillen appreciation time

There has been great consternation about the Tigers offense over these first few weeks, and rightly so. With things starting to take off, I wanted to step back and recognize the start that Guillen has put together.

How many times have we heard during the complaints about the offense that Clete Thomas and Brandon Inge were the only Tigers hitting? And then we’d laugh at how pathetic it was. Yet all the while Guillen was producing. And not just doing okay, he was terrific.

Going into Wednesday night’s game Guillen had a .372 batting average – 5th in the AL. He had a .698 slugging percentage which was second in the AL. And he was the owner of a .481 OBP which was good enough for 3rd. He ranked second in OPS to only AJ Pierzynski. And he did the bulk of the damage with one leg. He’s managed to hit 5 doubles without being able to run. When there was frustration with the team rushing at-bats it was Guillen who was seeing over 4 pitches per plate appearance.

Yet those accomplishments went largely unnoticed. Maybe it was because he didn’t have gaudy RBI totals, or maybe it was the rather normal home run total. Or maybe he just hadn’t been clutch enough, despite hitting that game tying homer on Opening Day. Yet one of the 2 or 3 best offensive performers in the league was largely unnoticed even by his own fan base.

With the offense starting to roll and Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez finding their groove they will deservedly get the bulk of the attention. But when no one else was producing Guillen was carrying the load.

2008 American League Expanded Leaderboards – Baseball-Reference.com

Game 15: Tigers at Indians

The Natural Lightning BoltPREGAME: The Tigers will look to build on a two game win streak, and relinquish control of first dibs on the waiver wire, as they head into Cleveland. The two teams that are supposed to be at the top of the division are on the bottom looking up.

The Tigers send out rookie Armando Galarraga. Galarraga made one start last year for Texas and he allowed 5 runs on 4 walks and 4 hits in 4.2 innings. But in his two starts at Toledo he was quite impressive with 11 K’s and only 1 walk. Here’s hoping he attacks the strike zone with the big club as well.

While the Tigers send out a replacement starter, the Indians send out C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia hasn’t made it through the 6 inning in his 3 starts this year and he currently sports a 11.57 ERA. I hope he doesn’t find his groove tonight. He has managed to go at least 7 innings in 4 of his last 5 starts against the Tigers.

DET @ CLE, Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Programming Note: For those of you with satellite TV service there is some relevant info about where to find the game tonight:

DIRECTV: Ch. 672 (instead of the normal 669)

Dish Network: Game will not be shown due to lack of an available channel. Dish Network returns for Friday’s Tigers-Toronto game (Ch. 452)

Sorry to those of you who have Dish Network. It looks like it will be a night of Dan & Jim and MLB.com
Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: We’ve seen this before. Pitchers who can’t throw strikes. Hitters rushing through at-bats. A lack of concentration leading to runs on defense. But it’s sooooo much more enjoyable when it’s the others guys doing that stuff.

Continue reading Game 15: Tigers at Indians

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-15-08

Toledo 1 Lehigh Valley 4
Timo Perez was the offensive star with 2 hits and a walk. Jackson Melian hit a solo homer. Recently promoted Jon Connolly allowed 2 run over 5 innings on 2 walks and 1 strikeout.

Bowie 5 Erie 6
Jeff Frazier had 2 hits and a walk. Freddy Guzman added two hits and is sitting at .345. Josh Rainwater took the loss with 3 runs allowed in 4.1 innings. Casey Fien pitched 2 scoress innings.

Sarasota 3 Lakeland 17
Cale Iorg and Scott Sizemore each had 2 hits, each homered, and each had 4 RBI. Brandon Timm, Michael Bertram, and Jeff Kunkel all had 3 hits. Jonah Nickerson allowed 2 runs over 5 innings fanning 4 and walking none.

West Michigan 5 Peoria 1
Joseph Tucker and Jordan Newton each had 3 hits and Audy Ciriaco added 2. Alfredo Figaro pitched 7 innings allowing only 1 unearned run on 4 hits while fanning 8 and walking 4.

Junkballing: Injury updates and more

Being at the game last night, I’m way behind on the injury updates. But let’s get caught up…

Rodney

It’s not quite official, but it’s looking like Fernando Rodney might be toast – at least for this season. He is headed to Alabama for a consult with Dr. James Andrews. Given his injury prone past, and the pattern or not being able to stay healthy for two months at a time last year, and the inability to throw without pain right out of the gate this year, it’s all bad news.

Granderson

And some good news for Curtis Granderson who took
live batting practice today. He also ran the bases, which I’m less concerned about. I haven’t seen anything from the team about a return date, but I’m guessing it is next week.

Sheffield

Detroit Tigers Thoughts points to an analysis of Gary Sheffield’s shoulder. Reports of tearing scar tissue don’t sound good, but the results have been impressive the last 3 days. Was it what was needed, or is it a short term gain in exchange for longer term risk?

Robertson

This is brand spanking new, but he left tonight’s game with some lat pain on his throwing side. In the locker room Nate said the plan was for some anti-inflammatory medicine and he doesn’t expect to miss a start at this time.

Verlander

Okay, don’t freak out. He may not be injured at all. But Dave Cameron blogging for Fangraphs notes that
Verlander’s velocity is down significantly and his other stats are moving in the wrong direction as well. I think it’s too soon to call it an injury at this point but it is something to watch.

Leftovers

Bless You Boys delves into Craig Monroe’s quotes about being bitter. Like Ian I can appreciate Monroe’s view point. Yes if he’d played better this wouldn’t have happened and so on and so forth. And to his credit he didn’t slam the organization on the way out or after the fact.