Being a fan is tough. In baseball, even in the best years, it means you’re going to have at least 70 lousy baseball days, and a few dozen of those will rip your sports heart out.
I just want you to know, that however frustrated/angry/disappointed/amused you feel regarding yesterday’s bullpen (lack of) effort. I feel the same way.
Hope opener today. Short and Sweet for the Win.
I’m headed out to Rangers Ballpark for their home opener, someone please post the lineups when they are released.
Since the big question going into the season was the Tiger bullpen, it was almost inevitable that the big topic of discussion early on would be bullpen problems. These sorts of things become self-perpetuating don’t they? At the first sign of trouble it becomes “see, look, it’s happening!”
I am not the only person who suspects that Jim Leyland really isn’t buying the Closer by Committee business, and is itching to slap the closer tag on the back of someone’s warmup jacket. And if you were going to try one guy to start with, who better than Phil Coke, he of the postseason heroics?
Well, the first go of that did not work out so well. Coke hung fastballs on two consecutive bottom of the order boys and before you knew it the Tigers’ bid for an undefeated season was finished at one game (that last fly by the way was frustratingly an almost-playable one).
It is hard to blame anyone for remembering what Coke did in the playoffs, but it is also worth remembering this: Coke gave up a .396 average against right-handed hitters last season. One of the advantages to a Closer by Committee system is the ability to play match ups. Maybe let’s give that a try.
The game yesterday was only partly about the bullpen though. The basic story was that the Tigers just didn’t score enough runs to win a Major League baseball game, struggling against the very ordinary Kevin Correia. In fact, the vaunted Tiger offense has managed to grind out a paltry season OPS of .542 so far. This won’t continue, although hopefully they won’t have to wait for warm weather.
The good news from yesterday: the Tigers’ starters now have a season ERA of 0.00, as Anibal Sanchez turned in 5 innings of two-hit baseball. The rubber game mound belongs to Rick Porcello, he of the sparkling Spring Training. So when he leaves the mound with the lead after 5 innings, try not to think “oh no, here it comes.”
Today’s Not-So-Fun Fact: Tiger left-handed hitters so far this season are 3-for-27 (.111), with an OPS of .291.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Don Kelly, who becomes the first bench player to get a start. The Donkey will bat 6th, naturally, because that is where the Left Fielder bats.
Today’s Chillin’ With DK Lineup:
Well after a day to savor their Opening Day victory, and to let Minneapolis warm up a bit (game time looks to be a relatively balmy 45), the Tigers hand the ball to Anibal and look to keep their perfect record intact.
Today’s Tigers-Twins game is also the MLB.TV Free Game of the Day.
While most of the talk about the opener was related to the bullpen use (or misuse, if you prefer). The play of the game may have been in the first inning, when the Tigers took an early lead and never looked back. After Austin Jackson led off with a single, he took off for 2nd, and Torii Hunter executed the hit-and-run to perfection, and before you knew it the Tigers had runners at the corners with nobody out.
As it turns out though, Jim Leyland said that there was no hit-and-run called on the play. Jackson was stealing second, and when Hunter saw the space open up between first and second he reacted; it was just something Hunter did on his own. I am looking forward to having a real #2 hitter this season, which the Tigers have been missing since the days of Placido Polanco (who, by the way, opened the season for the Marlins batting clean-up. Oh dear).
Speaking of the Marlins, the Tigers claimed pitcher Evan Reed off waivers from Miami and assigned him to Toledo. This tops off their 40-man roster at 40.
Today’s fun fact: According to Baseball Prospectus, the Tigers have a 76.1% chance of making the playoffs. The Twins chances are a slim 0.9%.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Miguel Cabrera, who is 9-for-19 lifetime against Correia.
Today’s Undefeated Lineup:
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
Once the turtle has had his say he is likely to duck back into his shell, and wait out the cold Minnesota winds there. But winter weather or not, it is still Opening Day, which should warm the hearts of baseball fans everywhere. Let’s Play Ball!!
Series Summary:
Mon Apr 1 4:10 pm: Verlander vs. Worley
Wed Apr 3 4:10 pm: Sanchez vs. Correia
Thurs Apr 4: 1:10 pm: Porcello vs. Pelfrey
Well, this looks to be a cold one (game time temperature is predicted to be 34, and that is before wind chill is figured in), so let’s get this out of the way now: don’t worry, the Tigers will start hitting once the temperatures warm up. There does seem to be a slight advantage to the pitchers in colder weather (slight). Here are the average OPS numbers by month:
This particular Twins pitcher, Vance Worley, has the added advantage of being unfamiliar to the Tiger hitters: only 2 Tigers have faced him before, Prince Fielder (1-for-3) and Omar Infante (0-for-6). And I’m sure the Twins hitters wish they had never faced Justin Verlander before. Joe Mauer is the exception, who is a career .351 against Verlander (although it should be mentioned he was 0-for-6 last season).
Speaking of Verlander, his new contract carries a $22 million vesting option for 2020–and the deciding vesting clause is how he finishes in the 2019 Cy Young voting. If he makes the top 5, the contract vests. This could make for a rather uniquely suspenseful Cy Young vote
Today’s fun fact: today will be the first opening day in Target Field history.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Torii Hunter. Torii returns to the city (if not the stadium) of his heyday, and tries to start up a little Ducks on the Pond (or Ice).
Today’s Defending AL Champions Lineup:
Today’s Seriously, We Have to Face Verlander in this Cold? Twins Lineup: