Game 2015.11: White Sox at Tigers

Was he safe? According to Dan & Jim, the tag was there ahead of Castellanos. According to the White Sox dugout coaches, they weren’t sure. Not before the time to appeal the play had expired and the call was finalized, anyway. But the White Sox internal replay system not moving quick enough is not the real issue, it’s that Ventura should have challenged the play no matter what, considering the circumstances. Let’s hope that Ausmus learned something.

Well, the Tigers are now off to the same 9-1 start as the ’11, ’68, and ’84 Tigers. In case you’re not thinking clearly this morning, the ’68 and ’84 seasons ended with a World Series championship.

So things are going as well as the could, let’s just enjoy the ride. There was a little chatter on yesterday’s thread expressing displeasure with situational hitting. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The Tigers are first in the Majors in OPS with RISP at .975, 8th in RISP with two outs (.849), and 6th in R3L2o (1.016). TL;DR: The Tigers are mashing the ball right now.

Sale v. Sanchez today, don’t expect too many runs on the board. Perez gets his first start of the season. Baseball Reference Game Preview here.

1. Davis, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, V DH
5. Marinez, J.D. RF
6. Cespedes, LF
7. McCann, C
8. Perez, 3B
9. Iglesias, SS

 

Game 2015.10: White Sox at Tigers

Not a lot of time this morning, but I’ll just say that so far so good. Hard to find fault with any part of the Tigers club so far, everything is going our way. Even the calls seem to be. But good teams will have streaks like this, just don’t get too down when we lose a few in a row. It’s a long season.

No update on Verlander…I don’t think he’s coming off of the DL anytime soon.

Here are the weekend probables.

(all times Eastern)

Friday 1:08 PM: Samardzija v. Price

Saturday 1:08 PM: Sale v. Sanchez

Sunday 1:08 PM: TBD v. Greene

Game 2015.9: Tigers at Pirates

It certainly didn’t make much of a splash when the Tigers shipped Robbie Ray off to the Diamondbacks, and in return got Shane Greene from the Yankees (who got Didi Gregorius from Arizona). But if his first two starts are any indication, Shane Greene may turn out to be an absolute steal, not to mention the fact that he is not free agent eligible until 2021 and pulling in all of $515,000.

It would be hard to exaggerate how thoroughly Greene dominated the Pirates last night. There were only three base runners in eight innings, all on singles (no walks), and none of them reached 2nd base. Greene breezed through eight with only 81 pitches only 25 of which were balls (that’s 3 balls per inning)–and this after pitching eight his first start with only 85 pitches. If it were not an Interleague game (did I mention…yes, I did), Greene looked all set for a complete game shutout.

Ausmus said that he considered letting Greene bat in the 8th, until Iglesias made it to 2nd with a double, which was more like a single plus inadvertent defensive indifference. Ausmus’ logic was that scoring a 2nd run in that situation increased the probability of winning more than keeping a dominant pitcher in with a one-run lead. What do you think?

At any rate, the extra base taken by Iglesias may turn out to be one of those hidden pivotal plays, since it brought Soria into the game, which he closed like…a closer, which could possibly turn into something good.

Of course Greene didn’t do it all himself: there were a whole lot of good defensive plays: Kinsler robbed a single with a diving stop; Cespedes, Davis, and Martinez all made good running catches in the outfield, and Iglesias was a one game highlight reel–even the play he didn’t make was worth several replays, as he somehow managed to fling a cross-body throw to first while on his back. With an improved Castellanos at 3rd, dare I say the Tigers may actually have a good team defensively now?

Castellanos did provide one of the lowlights of the game, stranding another two on base, as did Alex “Shift Bait” Avila hitting ’em where they are. The real lowlight though had to be the weak pinch-hit at bat by Victor Martinez, who (shhhhh) does not look very good at all so far this season.

In other news, Justin Verlander pitched a simulation game today (I’m pretty sure he’s pitched a bunch of those the last two seasons), although it was cut short at three innings instead of the schedule four.

Today’s Undefeated at Night Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Alfredo Simon, P

Francisco Liriano goes for the guys with the yellow P on their hats, and he has bedeviled both Cespedes (1-for-10) and Kinsler (3-for-17, yikes). The Pirates should be familiar with Simon from his time on the Reds, but none of them have hit him particularly well.

Oh, and everybody is #42 today, to honor Jackie Robinson.

Game 2015.8: Tigers at Pirates

Well all good streaks must come to an end, although this apparently does not apply to the Kansas City Royals, which means the 6 – 1 Tigers are now in 2nd place.

Last night was a rough one for Mr. Castellanos, which is Spanish for “goat.” Last night there was one of those pivotal game moments that Kevin was talking about this weekend: with bases loaded and nobody out, the Tigers looked poised for not only a big inning but potentially a huge inning. Then, in 2 pitches, it was all over–Castellanos obligingly hit the first double-play ball pitch into a double-play, Avila popped up the next pitch, and in a matter of a couple of minutes it was done with only one run to show. A possibly disappointed Sanchez then gave up a few more, and a JD Martinez-fueled 9th inning rally fell short when Nick Castellanos, again, grounded into a double-play.

After the game Brad Ausmus explained that Castellanos is really quite a horrible hitter, kind of a poor man’s Brandon Inge without the glove, but that the team was stuck with him, so there’s not much he can do.

Well, actually, Brad said

“Nick’s a pretty darn good hitter. He took some good swings today, too. I felt Nick had an opportunity [to get a big hit] as well.”

Ausmus had considered the idea of pinch-hitting Martinez with the bases loaded–as some of you suggested he should have done–but decided to save him for later. As frustrating as yesterday’s game was, do you really, at this point in the season, pull your #7 (well, #6 yesterday) hitter, a guy who is supposed to develop into a real threat with the bat, for a pinch-hitter? What does that say to Castellanos? Does the added pressure and show of no-confidence have a long-term effect on him that goes beyond this game? Will the show of confidence help Castellanos weather the little slump he is in? Was the best move for this game possibly not the best move for this season? Isn’t baseball interesting?

Anyway, be kind to Mr. Ausmus, today is his birthday.

The Tigers will try to end their one-game skid tonight, as Shane Greene tries to repeat his very good first performance. The Tigers have yet to win a night game this season–then again, they have yet to play one.

Tonight’s MLB Network-Televised Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. Alex Avila, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Shane Greene, P

The Tigers have historically had trouble with Pirates starter AJ Burnett. The two with the most history against him have underwhelming numbers: Miguel Cabrera (5-for-25) and Ian Kinsler (5-for-26). Maybe Rajai (4-for-9) will provide a spark–and if he does, it should be noted that Burnett has a reputation for being easy to run on.

Game 2015.7: Tigers at Pirates

Make that 6 – 0!

Although that is still only good enough for a tie for first, since those pesky Royals won again. (I think the Royals own that in the sports world now, the “pesky” moniker).

The Cleveland sweep, while satisfying, showed that this season will not be the breeze that a 6 – 0 start would suggest, because: pitching. The Lobster spent much of the game in hot water, and Blaine Hardy joined Ian Krol in the Shaky Lefty club.

But oh, that hitting! As good as Miguel Cabrera has been the last couple of seasons, it’s been a while since he has been fully healthy, and a while since he flat out scared anybody. After two long bombs and a double, Terry Francona finally gave in and walked him with a man on first. Expect to see a lot more of that this season, especially if Victor Martinez has a prolonged slow start (this is still his Spring Training after all).

The Tigers will be without Victor in the lineup as they ride their Vespas down I-76 to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in an early season Interlegue game, which almost seems designed to slow down early season momentum. Did I mention I’m not a fan of the way Interleague is done now? At least we won’t have any pennant races decided in an Interleague game, since the Interleague schedule concludes this season with the Astros at the Diamondbacks.

* * * * * * * * * *

It’s too early to get too excited about the hot start (although how would you like to be 0 – 6?), but that didn’t stop Sports Illustrated from jumping all over it. After giving Detroit a rather tepid pre-season prediction (I think we were barely sneaking in with the last wild card spot), we now find that Detroit is already playoff caliber.  And that was only after the Twins sweep. Tap the brakes there, guys.

Today’s Did I Mention I Don’t Like Interleague This Early In The Season Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. Alex Avila, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anibal Sanchez, P

Game 2015.6: Tigers at Indians

5-0! What do you know!

Though that’s only good enough for tied in the AL Central as the Royals also won yesterday to stay unbeaten.

The offense was relentless last night, coming back once from behind, and then putting up 4 huge runs in the top of the 9th. We could definitely empathize with the Indians fans in the top of the 9th. Allen may not have another inning like that all season. But give credit to the Tigers’ hitters as they worked counts, went the opposite way, and rescued the staff. Price was probably good enough to win, though the runs did come after his error.

Kyle Lobstein takes the ball today for the Tigers. He was called up on April 8th when JV was placed on the DL. Speaking of JV, he felt “fine” after a throwing session yesterday, so hopefully he’ll be ready to go when his spot comes up on the 22nd at home against the Yankees.

In other news:

– VMart said that the knee wasn’t really an issue and he’s not concerned.He’s still in today’s lineup. Remember that he won’t be starting over the next three in Pittsburgh.

– Derek Holland was placed on the 60 day DL down here in Texas. After what happened last year, and then losing Darvish for the season in Spring Training, I guess nothing is unexpected.

– Braves are the only 5-0 team in the NL.

– Adrian Gonzalez is on pace for 162 HR and 227 RBIs.

Today’s Lineup against lefty TJ House:

1) Davis, CF
2) Kinsler, 2B
3) Cabrera, 1B
4) Martinez, V DH
5) Martinez, J RF
6) Cespedes LF
7) Castellanos, 3B
8) McCann, C
9) Iglesias, SS

Baseball Reference Game Preview here.:

Game 2015.5: Tigers at Indians

The Tigers doubled up the Indians last night to move to 4-0, which is becoming custom around here. This marks the third time in four years that the Tigers have started off 4-0. Can’t really complain about that.

Now, again, it is early, but there is a lot to like about this history-making 4-0 start. The pitching has been tremendous, the hitting has been awesome, and yesterday afternoon, the Tigers faced staved off the club’s first bit of adversity. After buidling a 5-0 lead, the Indians rattled off 5 straight hits with one out in the 6th to get as close as 5-3. Al Al came in with runners on 1st and 2nd, and after starting the count 1-2, saw Gomes work the count to 3-2. Walking Gomes would have put the go ahead run on 1st and sent the home crowd into an opening day frenzy. But Gomes bounced into a not so routine double play on the next pitch, and then the Tigers took advantage of Indians’ miscues in the top of the 7th to get to 8-3. The Indians got another in the 8th to get to the final of 8-4.

Every game has a critical moment or two which serves as a pivot point for the outcome. I believe that the Alburquerque pitch on 3-2 to induce a double play was the one yesterday.

The Indians moved up Kluber, so we get a matchup of Price v. Kluber this afternoon. Should be great.

Hope you’re enjoying your Saturday.

Game 2015.4: Tigers at Indians

Well, this is fun!

The Tigers continue their march towards 162-0 by racking up a nearly perfect victory against the Twins. By not allowing a run until the 7th (and an unearned one at that), the Tigers set the AL record for consecutive shutout innings to start a season at 24. And they were a Cespedes get your knees down away from still hanging on to that shutout start.

But no matter, b/c the club played as well as it could have for the opening series of the season, and all is well in DTW-ville.

Guess who is leading the AL in OPS? Take a look up there… I mean, sample size, I know. But we needed a picture.

So the Tigers fly to Cleveland (or flew to Cleveland) for a 3 game set against the Indians. The Indians seem to be the new darlings of the AL under Tito Francona, and have been picked by many to win the Central this year (though so has everyone else except for the Twins).  I don’t think that a series in early April can really be a barometer for the whole season, but expect the Indians to put up a few runs, maybe even in the first game.

Probables (all times Central):

Today – 3:10 PM  – Alfredo Simon v. Zach McAllister

Saturday – 3:05 PM – David Price v. T.J. House

Sunday – 12:10 PM – Kyle Lobstein v. Corey Kluber

 

Game 2015.3: Twins at Tigers

When the Tigers trotted off the chilly Comerica diamond with an easy 11-0 win to warm them, I doubt any of them realized they had done something no Tiger team had ever done, which is begin the season with two consecutive shutouts. In fact, the last time any American League team did the double-shutout start was when the 1977 Angels did so, behind Nolan Ryan and good old Frank Tanana (in the NL, the Nationals pulled it off last year).  The Tigers have the chance to become only the 2nd team ever (1963 Cardinals) to start off the season blankety-blankety-blank.

It would be hard to pick a player of the game for yesterday: Gose came through as predicted (how about that?), with a single, double, and triple, one to each field; Alex Avila reached base every time he was up, and scored 4 runs; Iglesias was 4-for-4, raising his average to .857; and Kinsler brought home the bottom-of-the-order boys with 4 RBI. Oh, and Sanchez with that shutout thing, topped off by an efficient Nesbitt/Krol/Alburquerque/Soria bullpen outing.

Today’s player of the game is likely to be Weather Permitting, who is probably getting plenty of encouragement to be Permitting.

It’s not all good news in Tigerland. No sooner did Justin Verlander join Bruce Rondon in the pitchers’ DL club, than Joe Nathan crashed the club with an “elbow flexor strain,” after pitching to all of one batter in the opener. Hmm. Is that the same as that “dead arm” thing with which he kicked off last season? Soria will work as the closer in the meantime, which may explain the seemingly odd move by Brad Ausmus to bring Soria in for one hitter yesterday with an 11-run lead.

Today’s Undefeated Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Alex Avila, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: Shane Greene vs. Kyle Gibson

Since the Gose as Player of the Game thing worked out yesterday, I’ll go with Shane Greene today, as he leads the Tigers to their 3rd consecutive shutout in his Detroit debut. If not Greene, then Kinsler, who looks to follow up his big game yesterday against a pitcher who he is 6-for-14 against lifetime.

 

 

Game 2015.2: Twins at Tigers

I should have known when I went with Miguel Cabrera as the “obvious” prediction for the Player of the Game that he’d put up an O-fer, since there is nothing obvious in baseball. It turns out that the Tigers got all the offense they needed from J.D. Martinez, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alex Avila (!), along with a masterful starting performance by David Price, and some sparkling defense to top it all off.

The Tigers continue their quest for the perfect 162-0 season this afternoon, as they hand the ball to Anibal. Sanchez will face Ricky Nolasco, if the chilly rain in the environs permits. Hopefully Sanchez has been briefed on the Tiger Bullpen Improvement Plan, which is to keep the starters on the mound and the relievers in the bullpen where they belong.

Today will also see the Tiger debut of Anthony Gose, who gets the leadoff spot this afternoon.

In other news, Justin Verlander has finally ended up on the DL after all, backdated to March 29. Kyle Lobstein has been called up to take his spot, and he will start Sunday’s game.

Today’s Undefeated Tiger Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Alex Avila, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: Anibal Sanchez vs. Ricky Nolasco

Player of the Game pick: Anthony Gose, who will try to make his mark in his Tiger debut, and show that he’s got some leather in the outfield also.

Game 2015.1: Twins at Tigers

For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

–Song of Solomon 2:14, preferably read in the voice of Ernie Harwell.

Well, here we are, it’s Monday, and one of the great days in sports, Opening Day in Major League Baseball (we won’t count that thing in Chicago last night), topped off by a nitecap of NCAA basketball finals.

I was actually out walking around a local lake yesterday, and saw hundreds of turtles out sunning. Didn’t hear any singing though; perhaps I didn’t listen closely enough, or perhaps they wait until the first pitch.

The Tigers will look familiar enough; despite a few changes in the starting lineup, they are still a team of strong bats, a strong arm on the mound, not much on the bench, and a prayer for the bullpen.

For the first time in 8 years, that arm on the mound will not be in a jersey with Verlander on the back, although Justin Verlander has not actually been put on the DL as was previously announced. He threw 40 pitches off the mound yesterday; Ausmus said he “felt good” (yay!) until the last couple pitches (ohhh). Stay tuned.

And speaking of familiar faces, that guy with a big grin in the Twins jersey is Mr. Torii Hunter, making his 17th consecutive Opening Day start. He is also batting 4th, which says a thing or two about the Twins lineup.

* * * * * * * * * *

For those interested in Opening Day festivities, the Tigers front office has their own blog which I will be checking regularly this season, because how else to know who is throwing out the ceremonial first pitches?

Today that honor belongs to Oscar Winner and and Tiger fan J.K. Simmons, who will spend the remainder of the game in the bullpen yelling “encouragement” to the relievers. (That last part has yet to be verified).

There are also important notices there about new food at Comerica, such as “bacon on a stick topped with deviled eggs and fried jalapeños.” Oh dear.

OK, I’m back. I just spend an hour trying to get bacon on a stick. I was going to try to put eggs on top too, but I don’t want to miss the game.

The Four Tops will be singing the National Anthem. The Tigers are 0-0 in games opened by the Four Tops.

* * * * * * * * * *

Today’s Opening Day Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. J.D. Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Alex Avila, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: David Price vs. Phil Hughes

The only real surprise in the lineup is the right-handed Davis batting against the right-handed Hughes, but Ausmus is playing past history here: Gose is 1-for-11 lifetime against Hughes. Speaking of history, Cabrera is hitting a fat 16-for-34 with 5 HRs off of Hughes, so he is the unsurprising pick for Opening Day Player of the Game.

The key hitter for the season though will be Cespedes. Assuming everyone stays healthy (I’m looking at you, Victor), the Cabrera-Martinez-Martinez triad should be as good as last season. Cespedes keeps knocking on the door of greatness, only to nap on the doorstep when nobody answers. It’s time for him to force his way in.

Flipping through the SI 2015 Preview…

Some thoughts as I flip through this weeks Sports Illustrated MLB Preview ’15…

(projections by Rotowire.com)

– Salvador Perez and Greg Holland are on the cover for my regional issue. SI picks the Royals to finish 4th in the AL Central. Says a lot about the state of baseball in Texas.

– SI is choosing Cleveland to win it all. Last time SI did that it was 1997 and the Indians finished last.

– 88 wins was enough for the Giants to win the WS last year. 100 win teams are a thing of the past in this era of competitive balance. In the past decade there were 4 100 win teams. The decade before that there were 17. I think that 90 is our number.

– SI predicts that only 3 AL teams will win more than 90 games. The Tigers sneak in as the 2nd WC winner after finishing 87-75. Doesn’t sound too unreasonable to me. Our window is closing. We gotta get to the end of the season with no holes in the lineup and a bullpen.

– Rick Porcello is slotted as the #2 starter for Boston, and he’s predicted to win 14 games and finish with a 3.68 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. JV has been given the same amount of wins, but a worse ERA and WHIP. Though Porcello has a much better defense behind them, so I’m not ready to say that the computer thinks Porcello is a better pitcher.

– SI has 5 Tigers penciled in for 79+ RBI (Kins, Miggy, VMart, Cespedes, J.D). The scout who spoke about the Tigers says that Miggy’s in his best shape in years. Lots of talk about how bad the bullpen is, with some hope that Rondon can be the savior. Verlander’s K/9 prediction is 8.0. I would be thrilled with that.

– White Sox are picked to finish third in the Division. Everyone really likes Cabrera/LaRoche/Samardzija/Robertson. Man would I have loved to get a guy like Robertson.

– Based on the individual predictions, I don’t really see why the Royals would be any worse this year than last. But SI has them at 78-84.

– Matt Joyce is slotted to bat 4th for the Angels. A modest .753 OPS, but still, 4th.

– The bottom of the AL West is going to be bad. My hometown Rangers and the Astros are going to run a lot of guys out there this year.

– SI doesn’t predict any pitcher in the AL to have more than 15 wins. Price is one of the 15 game winners.