Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-11-08

Toledo 4 Buffalo 1
Mike Hessman, Jeff Larish, and Matt Joyce all hit solo homers. Jeremy Johnson went 5 innings and allowed only an unearned run on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 3 K’s. Ian Ostlund allowed no walks and no hits while fanning 4 over 2 innings. Blaine Neal picked up his second save walking one and fanning one.

Binghamton 18 Erie 12
Tom Brookens must be a little cheesed at Lucas French. He allowed him to stay in for 4 innings and surrender 14 runs on 15 hits. That is simply a ridiculous line and it begs the question why would Brookens let that happen? Deik Scram, Jeff Frazier, Dusty Ryan, and Ryan Roberson all homered. Freddy Guzman picked up 4 hits.

Lakeland 0 Clearwater 1
Flying Tigers hitters went down on strikeouts 18 times in this game. Gabriel Benitez started and allowed 1 run on 3 hits, 0 walks and 3 K’s in 4 innings

West Michigan – Rained Out

Game 10: Tigers at White Sox

PREGAME: Jose Contreras and Dontrelle Willis. I’d put the over/under on pitches thrown tonight at 400.

The Tigers trade one set of Sox for another one. They arrived in the Windy City around 3:30 this morning. They will send out Willis who’s spring training control issues carried over into his first start. He walked 7 in 5 innings last Saturday while only allowing 1 hit.

The White Sox send out Contreras who had his own issues last Friday in Detroit. He allowed 14 baserunners in just 5 innings of work.

Gary Sheffield sits tonight
due to finger swelling. Jacque Jones is your DH and Clete Thomas is your left fielder. Critique away.

1. Thomas, LF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Guillen, 1B
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Cabrera, 3B
6. Jones, DH
7. Renteria, SS
8. Rodriguez, C
9. Inge, CF

I will say putting the Jones behind Cabrera isn’t a bad move to make Contreras think a little about pitching around Cabrera to get to a left hander.

This one is on FSN+, and by now you should know the drill.

Game Time 8:11

DET @ CHW, Friday, April 11, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: For the second night in a row the bullpen is the story, but boy did they flip the script. Pressed into duty in the first inning, they picked up all 27 outs while allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks while fanning 10.

Aquilino Lopez who was supposed to be the Mud Hens closer went 4 innings and allowed the only run. He also wiggled out of a 2nd & 3rd none out situation allowing only 1 run to score.

Jason Grilli had an awful inning with a HBP and 2 walks, but wiggled out of it and chased it with back to back 1-2-3 innings.

Denny Bautista allowed a hit, but some bad baserunning and an excellent throw from Clete Thomas took care of Jermaine Dye’s single.

Todd Jones even pitched a 1-2-3 inning striking out the last 2 batters. Unreal. It was his first save opportunity of the season. Also unreal.

Offensively the Tigers plated 5 runs, and they probably deserved some more. There were multiple liners hit right at White Sox infielders. There were a couple rushed innings against Contreras, but they were generally patient.

The Tigers also got a hit with the bases loaded from Magglio Ordonez. Plus, Miguel Cabrera came up with a 2-out RBI. It’s starting to click like we had all hoped it would.

The only downside is that Willis may be out. Cabrera is becoming more hobbled. And Carlos Guillen’s hamstring started barking late in the game. There may be no bench tomorrow.

Bazardo out, Rapada in

After a miserable performance last night Yorman Bazardo has been designated for assignment. He is out of options but I anticipate that after his first 2 outings he’ll have no trouble clearing waivers. The Tigers also have the option of trying to work out a trade over the next 10 days.

Taking his place will be that second lefty Clay Rapada. Rapada had some arm problems early in the spring and has made 2 appearances for the Mud Hens. His ERA is inflated because one of the outings was good and one was bad. Working in his favor is the fact that he has 7 strike outs against only 2 walks in his 5 innings of work. Not walking people would be a step forward at this point. It will also likely mean longer outings for Bobby Seay.

I’m really disappointed in Bazardo. I had high hopes for him this season. I don’t know if he’s still being effected by the death of his father but his inability to throw strikes last night was maddening.

Programming note

I’ll be talking Tigers with Sean Baligian on WDFN 1130 this morning. It looks like I’ll be on at 10:35. So if you’re driving around this morning, flip on the radio and take a listen. WDFN also streams over the internet so you can listen in on WDFN.com.

Update: Here is the bulk of the interview. I was actually on a few minutes more but this is most of it. Thanks to Sean and WDFN for the opportunity and to everyone for the kind comments.

[audio:http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/ferris.mp3]

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-10-08

Toledo – PPD

Binghamtom 7 Erie 10
Wilkin Ramirez doubled and tripled as part of a 3 hit, 3 RBI day and he added a walk. Danny Worth hit a grand slam, and had a nice profile piece in Baseball America. Benjamin Fritz allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while fanning 5 in 5.1 innings.

Lakeland 5 Sarasota 10
Jeramy Laster homered and drove in 3 runs. Shawn Roof had two hits and a walk and is hitting .417. Jonah Nickerson was rocked for 6 runs and didn’t make it out of the third inning. Angel Castro followed and allowed 4 more runs in 1.1 innings.

West Michigan PPD

Minors news

Jeff Gerbe is going under the knife. The pitcher will have arthroscopic shoulder surgery and miss all of 2008.

Game 9: Tigers at Red Sox

PREGAME: Time for the Tigers to put a win streak together. To do it they’ll have to get by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Inge moves into the leadoff spot based on his 6 for 22 history with two homers off of Wakefield. The rest of the lineup is what we’ve become used to with Pudge in the 8 spot and Marcus Thames at the bottom.

Nate Robertson takes the mound for the Tigers. Nate battled through 5 innings in his start against the White Sox. He fanned 5 and only walked 2, but found himself in a full count on six different batters.

This one is on FSN+ with the Red Wings playoff run starting tonight.

DET @ BOS, Thursday, April 10, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME
: That was an absolutely inexcusable performance by the bullpen. It was poorly managed, it was poorly coached, and it was poorly executed. The bullpen recorded 8 outs and allowed 8 runs, powered by 7 walks. The pitchers have to throw strikes, and if they can’t throw strikes (which they couldn’t) they need to be lifted. This is a bullpen with 8 pitchers and yet they were left out there to throw over 35 pitches in 2 different innings. Zach Miner averaged 15 pitches per out, that’s about the league average per inning.

Moving beyond the bullpen…

  • Nate Robertson looked great with the exception of the 4th inning where it all went south. He basically matched his pitch count from the previous 3 innings combined in that dreadful 4th. But he did rebound and had an easy 5th.
  • The offense looked pretty good for a second day in a row with everyone reaching base. The Tigers had 7 walks of their own, and yest they stranded most of them early on. But Wakefield had the knuckler dancing (part of the reason there were so many walks) and they just couldn’t find it.
  • Pudge with walks in consecutive games?????
  • Finally, the defense didn’t have any miscues today.

links for 2008-04-10

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-9-08

Charlotte 3 Toledo 10
Ryan Raburn is trying to show he deserves to be with the big club coming up a triple short of the cycle. Jeff Larish hit his 4th homer of the season. Erick Almonte homered and doubled. Armando Galarraga fanned 5 and walked none as part of a 7 inning, 3 run night. Aaron Fultz pitched 2 scoreless innings to finish it.

Erie 1 Harrisburg 2 (10 innings)
Quiet night for the Seawolves bats with no extra base hits. Danny Worth picked up 2 hits and scored the lone run. Jon Connolly allowed 1 run over 6 innings of work on 3 hits, 3 walks, and no strike outs. Casey Fien pitched 2 scoreless innings.

Lakeland 4 Sarasota 2
Duane Below started and pitched 6 shut out innings allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while fanning 9. Freddy Dolsi picked up his second save with a scoreless 9th. James Skelton was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and Scott Sizemore was finally held hitless. Brennan Boesch homered.

Great Lakes 0 West Michigan 9
Kyle Peter reached base all 5 times out of the leadoff spot with 3 hits and 2 walks. Casper Wells added 2 hits, as did Kody Kaiser and Chris Carlson. Alfredo Firgaro pitched 6 shut out innings fanning 7 against 2 walks and 3 hits.

Is it wrong to pop champagne in April?

Has an April win ever felt so good? If it wasn’t dark and 11:00 p.m. I’d be inclined to say that the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Regardless, the Tigers and their fans can sleep a little better tonight. I was confident that the team wouldn’t finish 0-162 but am very happy to no longer have to test the theory.

Some thoughts from the game:

  • The Tigers actually hit a couple balls hard early on, but they were gobbled up by Red Sox defenders. But unlike in other games, the offense didn’t go in a shell.
  • The Tigers worked 8 walks tonight chasing Lester early. Nice to see the patience, but Magglio Ordonez still swung at the first pitch in 3 of his plate appearances.
  • Meanwhile Carlos Guillen had a tremendous night seeing pitches working Lester for 15 pitches in his first 2 at bats.
  • But the offensive star was Edgar Renteria who got the big hit with a 2 run gapper in the 4th. Everyone could take a breath and Marcus Thames followed with the 2 run bomb. Renteria kind of tormented Boston fans when he played for them, now he did it again.
  • Jeremy Bonderman had one of those Nate Robertson type battling nights. His defense hurt him early on forcing him to get extra outs and raising his pitch count. But he limited the damage to 2 runs. He seemed to be getting quite a few swinging strikes but only 3 K’s. Also, his fastball really dropped off again around the 80 pitch mark where he was sitting in the high 80s.
  • The bullpen did an excellent job. Bobby Seay got all 4 hitters we was called on to face. Francis Beltran and Denny Bautista did their jobs as well.
  • And it was another scary Todd Jones night. He didn’t exactly get hammered with a handful of grounders and a pop up doing most of the damage. The only part that bothered me was when he lost the strike zone. Still, some add on runs courtesy of Inge and Guillen provide a cushion.

Okay. Time for a 7 game win streak and we’ll just start the season over again.

Game 8: Tigers at Red Sox

PREGAME: Jeremy Bonderman gets the unenviable task of trying to hold the Boston Red Sox to negative runs. In his last start he pitched well until running out of gas around the 70 pitch mark. I’d expect that Bonderman will throw heavy doses of 2 seam fastballs trying to get some early contact and prolong his outing.

The Tigers will try and right their bats against lefty Jon Lester. Lester went 6.2 innings and allowed only 3 hits in his last start against Oakland.

Jason Beck notes that Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera did some extra hitting work while Carlos Guillen worked on taking throws with Rafael Belliard.

Also courtesy of Beck, here is the lineup:
1. Rodriguez, C
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Sheffield, DH
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Cabrera, 3B
6. Guillen, 1B
7. Renteria, SS
8. Thames, LF
9. Inge, CF

DET @ BOS, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05 (note, this is on FSN+ so here is your channel listing)

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-8-2008

Charlotte 9 Toledo 7
Ryan Raburn homered and knocked in 3 while Mike Hessman doubled and tripled. Brent Clevlen went 3 for 4 and continues a promising start to his season. Matt Joyce hit his second homer of the year to go along with a walk. Virgil Vasquez was knocked around for 7 hits but limited the damage to 2 runs while fanning 6 in 5 innings. Clay Rapada and Preston Larrison combined to allow 6 runs in 3 innings.

Erie 3 Harrisburg 2
Wil Rhymes 3 run homer was the offense. Wilkin Ramirez doubled and walked. Josh Rainwater went 5 2/3 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, no walks, and 6 K’s. Brett Jensen recorded his first save of the season with a scoreless 9th inning.

Lakeland 3 Sarasota 7
Rick Porcello made his 2nd start and was excellent again. He was tagged for 4 runs, but all were unearned and came in a 3 error 4th inning. He allowed 4 hits, one of which was an infield single, while fanning 4 and walking none. Cale Iorg, who made 2 errors, went 3 for 5. James Skelton and Scott Sizemore each added 2 hits.

Great Lakes 5 West Michigan 1
Kyle Peter doubled and walked and Jordan Newton added 2 singles. Ramon Garcia gave up all 5 runs on 7 hits, no walks,and 6 K’s over 6 innings. Wilton Garcia fanned 4 in 2 scoreless innings of relief.