Category Archives: Minors

Tigers minor league wrap – April 13th

Scranton 7, Toledo 5
Chad Durbin started for Toledo and allowed 4 runs in 5 innings. Mark Woodyard blew the save allowing 3 runs while only retiring one batter. Jack Hannahan and Alexis Gomez homered for the Mud Hens. Don Kelly and David Espinsoa both had 3hit games to raise their averages to .276 and .333 respectively.

Bowie 9, Erie 3Kody Kirkland homered for the Seawolves. Virgil Vasquez allowed 7 runs, of which only 4 were earned. Brent Clevlen and Kody Kirkland committed errors. Eulogio De La Cruz, who has struggled thus far, pitched a scoreless inning, as did Chris Homer.

Sarasota 7, Lakeland 3 ()
Kevin Ardoin allowed 7 runs, 4 of which were earned. He was battered around for 12 hits in 5 innings of work. Jeff Frazier was 3 for 4 to raise his average to .353. Jeff Larish hit his second homer of the season and added a single. Larish also committed two errors on the same play.

Southwest Michigan 2, West Michigan 1
Ramon Garcia was strong in six innings, allowing only two runs. In his two outings Garcia has struck out 13 and walked none in 11 innings. Cameron Maybin had the night off, and the rest of the offense only managed 4 singles.

Maroth hurting

Mike Maroth will miss his scheduled start on Thursday. The elbow tenderness he experienced during spring training has apparently flared up again.

The Tigers aren’t overly concerned, but I am. Maroth’s start on Friday was his first long outing of the year because he was limited in spring training. My guess is that it didn’t feel right the next day, and the pain hasn’t subsided. If there is any good news in this, it is that Maroth appears to be taking the cautious route instead of trying to pitch through it. Continue reading Maroth hurting

Tiger Minor League Wrap – April 12th

Toledo 9, Scranton 5
Brian Peterson went 2 for 4 with a double, as did newcomer Tike Redman. Zach Miner started for the Mud Hens and allowed 4 runs in 4 innings.

Altoona 4, Erie 2
Humberto Sanchez wasn’t quite as sharp as his last start, and wasn’t helped by his own defense. He allowed 4 runs, two of which were earned, in 5 innings of work. He also allowed 7 hits and two walks while K’ing 4. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3 with a walk and Tony Giarratano doubled in 4 trips.

Lakeland 6, Dunedin 4
Gil Meija was 3 for 3 with a walk, Brent Dlugach was 3 for 4 with a stolen base, and Nick McIntyre went 2 for 3 to power the Lakeland attack. Kevin Whelan retired all 3 hitters, including 2 strike outs to pick up his 3rd save. In 3 appearances he’s retired all 9 batters he’s faced, striking out 6.

West Michigan 7, South Bend 5
Wil Rhymes was 3 for 5 to raise his average to .414. At age 23 in low A ball, he’s not really classified as a prospect, but is still having a nice start to the season. Michael Hollimon reached base 4 times to raise his average to .409. With Rhymes and Hollimon at the top of the order it’s no surprise that Cameron Maybin has 7 RBI, 3 of which he picked up on his first professional homer. Lucas French got the start and only allowed two hits in six innings while striking out 4. The bad news is he also walked 4.

Tiger Minor League Wrap – April 11th

Toledo 7, Scranton 0
The bats woke up in Toledo. Jack Hannahan and Ryan Ludwick homered while Josh Phelps, Don Kelly, Ryan Raburn, and Max St. Pierre picked up multiple hits. Wil Ledezma had his second strong outing throwing six shut out innings. Ledezma only allowed a walk and 3 hits against 4 strike outs.

Erie 6, Altoona 2
Kurt Airoso hit his second and third homers of the season, and Kody Kirkland mashed his first. Brent Clevlen also picked up multiple hits. Once again there was a solid effort from a starter as Nate Bumstead allowed a single hit and no runs (despite 4 walks) against 8 strike outs in 5 innings of work.

Dunedin 10, Lakeland 2
A rough night all around for the Lakeland Tigers. Dallas Trahern allowed 9 runs, 8 of which were earned, in only 3 innings. Wilkin Ramirez commited his 4th error of the season. Offensively Clete Thomas picked up two more hits to raise his average to .308.

South Bend 4, West Michigan 3
Cameron Maybin’s streak of multi-hit games ended, but he still added a single in 4 at-bats. William Rhymes was 3 for 4 with a double.

Tigers Minor League Recap – April 10th

Scranton 4, Toledo 2
Jack Hannahan was 2 for 2 with a walk. The rest of the Mud Hens offense was non-existent. Today’s lineup featured only two hitters with batting averages North of .200 (Hooper and Hannahan).

Altoona 9, Erie 1
Eulogio De La Cruz was pounded once again. He gave up six hits, including a home run, while retiring only two batters. His ERA currently stands at 45.00. Brent Clevlen also continues to struggle and his average has dipped to .150 after going 0 for 4. Kelly Hunt homered to account for Erie’s only run.

Dunedin 6, Lakeland 3
Brent Dlugach homered and Wilkin Ramirez picked up two hits for Lakeland. Josh Rainwater was the Tigers starter and scattered 6 hits and 2 runs over 5 innings of work.

West Michigan 7, South Bend 0 Cameron Maybin continues to hit well as he picked up a couple hits, including a double, and added a stolen base. William Rhymes, Cory Middleton, Mark Haske, and Jeremy Laster all had multi-hit games as well. Virgil Vazquez allowed one hit in four innings, and Andrew Kown followed with 4 innings only allowing two hits while striking out 4.

Tiger Minor League Roundup – April 9th

Charlotte 7, Toledo 1
Colby Lewis had a solid start going 4 innings and only allowing 2 hits against 5 strikeouts. Other than that the game was quite unremarkable from a Mud Hen perspective. Don Kelly who had an impressive spring training at the plate has struggled thus far and is hitting .083.

Erie 4, Harrisburg 0
Tony Giarratano, Brent Clevlen, and Vincent Blue all picked up two hits for Erie. Preston Larrison was perfect for 5 innings and 5 strikeouts.

Lakeland 3, Tampa 2
Clete Thomas homered and added a single. Jeff Frazier was 3 for 5 with 2 double and is hitting .375. Wilken Ramirez added two hits and a stolen base. Kevin Whelan retired all 3 hitters for his second save.

Fort Wayne 11, West Michigan 3
Cameron Maybin went 2 for 4 and is now hitting .462. Erik Averill struggled with his control walking 3 and allowing 5 runs in 4 innings.

Tigers Minor League Roundup – April 8th

Charlotte 1, Toledo 0 – 10 Innings
Not really anything to highlight offensively. Jason Beck notes that Nook Logan has been placed on the DL with a fracture of his pinky.

Harrisburg 3, Erie 1
Brent Clevlen got the lone RBI and picked up his first hit of the season, going 1 for 4. Virgil Vazquez was strong starting for the Seawolves pitching 6 innings and allowing a single run on 3 hits while striking out 4.

Tampa 8, Lakeland 7
Jeff Larish was 1 for 3 with two walks. Wilkin Ramirez was 2 for 5 including a home run and a double. Clete Thomas and Jeff Frazier also doubled for Lakeland. Kevin Ardoin allowed 4 runs on 7 hits (2 home runs) and only struck out 1 hitter in 5 1/3 innings.

West Michigan 4, Fort Wayne 1
Cameron Maybin doubled twice in 5 at-bats. Michael Hollimon also picked up two hits, as did William Rhymes, Justin Justice and Pedro Cotto. Ramon Garcia struck out 6 and walked none in 5 innings allowing only one run and 3 hits.

Tiger Minor League Wrap-April 7th

Toledo 3, Charlotte 1
Zach Miner struggled a little bit with his control, walking 3 in 4 innings. However, he also K’d 4 Charlotte Knights and allowed a single unearned run. Mark Woodyard picked up the save striking out 3. Ryan Ludwick homered knocking in two.

Harrisburg 11, Erie 7
Humberto Sanchez had an excellent start spoiled by a bad night for the bullpen. Sanchez allowed 4 hits and a walk over 5 innings while striking out 8. Eulogio De La Cruz allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk while only retiring two hitters. Offensively, Tony Giarratano was 3-5 with 2 doubles.

Lakeland 2, Tampa 1
Kevin Whelan struck out the side to save the game for Christian Martinez who pitched 5 innings of shut out ball. Jeff Larrish was 2 for 4 with a home run.

West Michigan’s game against Fort Wayne was postponed.

Tiger Minor League Highlights

The biggest news was the debut of last year’s first round pick, Cameron Maybin for West Michigan. Maybin was 2 for 4 with a triple. Defensively he picked up an assist on an 8-4 double play and made a diving catch. Unfortunately the Whitecaps lost 5-3.

Mudhens lose 1-0
The offense was shutdown, but there was good news and it’s name was Wilfredo. Ledezma only allowed 3 hits and 1 run while striking out nine in 4 2/3 innings.

Erie loses 2-1
The bats were quiet, but the Seawolves received a strong outing from Nate Bumstead: 5 2/3 IP, 0 BB, 6 K, 2H. Eulogio De La Cruz took the loss in the 10th inning.

Lakeland loses 6-1
And yet again, no offense. The Lakeland Tigers only managed 4 hits while committing 4 errors. Fortunately, the good news came from 5 innings with no earned runs from starter Dallas Trahern (5 K’s)

Tiger Links – and quick

A lot of interesting stuff the last couple days, but I’m short on time so here’s a Joel Zumaya -fastball-esque link round-up:

Tiger Stuff

Other baseball stuff you might care about

  • striketwo.net: Summarizing the latest news and discussions from 678 MLB blogs: This is a newish site that I’ve become a big fan of. It tracks discussions across the blogosphere. You can view the hottest topics, or keep up to date with what others are saying about your favorite players or teams.
  • Ballbug : This is another tool that tracks discussions on the hottest topics in baseball. Ballbug just launched on Monday. If you’re familiar with memeorandum, this is the same thing but for baseball.
  • ATM Reports: Lee Sinins who publishes the very popular Around the Majors newsletter is doing it via a blog now.

detroit tigers, baseball, ballbug, striketwo

Jordan Tata Takes Jones spot

Jordan Tata - Photo Credit: Roger DewittJordan Tata who was set to open the season with Erie will be the beneficiary of Todd Jones’s hamstring injury according to Danny Knobler. Tata had an excellent season for Lakeland last year (2.79 ERA, 3.27 K/BB ratio) as well as a solid spring.

The move surprises me. Tata hasn’t pitched above A ball, and there are other pitchers (namely Mark Woodyard) who have a little more experience and would have been a decent fit. That said, Tata probably won’t see that much action over what will hopefully only be a 2 week stint. Tata is also 25, so while he lacks experience at the higher levels of the minors, he isn’t exactly a kid, and this doesn’t feel like a “rush job” that could be detrimental to his development.

As for other roster implications like option years and service time, these will probably both be a non-factor. This is already an option year for Tata, so calling him up won’t make a difference in terms of options. As for service time, if this is truly only a stint that will last a couple weeks, it is doubtful that it would advance his arbitration clock significantly.