From the category archives:

Pitching

Porcello’s 15 starts

19.07.2009 4 comments

Earlier in the week Jim Leyland made the announcement that Rick Porcello’s  next start would come July 21st and that he has 15 starts left. Porcello has been on inning and pitch restrictions as the Tigers try not to burn out one of the most promising young arms in the game. Through his first 16 [...]

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Junk Balling – All Star break edition

12.07.2009 5 comments

A pile of links on the eve of the All Star break… If you find yourself a little bored with the Tigers game today, you can always flip over to ESPN and catch Scott Sizemore, the lone Tigers representative in the All Star Future’s game. With Polanco on the last year of his contract and [...]

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Spelling Porcello

07.07.2009 18 comments

Because you can’t spell Porcello without 2 O’s, 2 L’s, an R, a C, an E, and a capital P…The Tigers are taking advantage of an offday in the schedule and the All Star to skip Rick Porcello’s turn in the rotation. Porcello is done until after the All Star Break and while the rotation [...]

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Figaro has shorter leash than Willis

28.06.2009 6 comments

That didn’t take long. Alfredo Figaro is being bounced from the rotation and Luke French will make his first career start Friday night at the Metrodome. Figaro heads to Toledo, so he still ends up with a promotion in the deal. Figaro did struggle in his 2nd start, and he pitched out of a number [...]

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Faster than fast – the quickest pitches of 2009

27.06.2009 20 comments

On Tuesday night Joel Zumaya threw a ball that the Comerica Park gun, and the Fox Sports gun clocked at 104mph. That is freakishly fast and a little hard to believe, at the very least there was probably some rounding up. A check of MLB.com’s pitch f/x data had the pitch 50 feet from home [...]

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Willis will start Sunday

10.06.2009 13 comments

The Tigers have made a decision, at least for the time being, to stick with Dontrelle Willis in the starting rotation. Jeremy Bonderman will head to the bullpen…for now. Keeping Willis in the rotation is probably the right decision if Bonderman is the other option. Of course I kind of agree with Lee that perhaps [...]

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Friday’s Bloops and Blasts

05.06.2009 12 comments

A bunch of stuff that I should highlight or comment on that I just haven’t gotten around to doing so I’ll let others do it for me: Ian drops the hammer on Dontrelle after yesterday’s debacle. I give Ian credit for coming strong (damn, I sound like Jim Rome). I’ve yet to comment because while [...]

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Edwin Jackson’s 132 pitches

21.05.2009 26 comments

Edwin Jackson threw 132 pitches to help the Tigers complete a sweep of the Texas Rangers. Pitch counts and the hubbub around them are fodder for controversy. I tend to favor caution in these scenarios but am willing to consider each game on an individual basis. Who was the pitcher? What was the game state? Is there an off day coming up? How much rest is he pitching on? What is the pitcher’s injury history? And on and on. I don’t think there is a simple answer to the right number of pitches, but today Jim Leyland left Edwin Jackson in too long. I worry if this is going to be a pattern in 2009.

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Dontrelle Willis Pitch Location

Dontrelle’s Debut

15.05.2009 4 comments

I don’t know if I’d call Dontrelle’s outing good, but I would call it progress. He can now throw the ball over the plate. He knows it. The coaching staff knows it. The fans know it. Now it is a matter of whether or not he can be an effective big league pitcher.

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Thumbnail image for Justin Verlander’s New Slider

Justin Verlander’s New Slider

09.05.2009 17 comments

Justin Verlander has turned in 3 remarkable outings in a row amassing 31 strike outs as hitters can’t catch up with his heater or their knees buckle with the curve. But very quietly Verlander has added a slider to his repertoire.

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Tigers swap lefty bat for lefty arm

28.04.2009 4 comments

The Tigers optioned Jeff Larish down to Toledo to make room for lefty reliever Clay Rapada. My read is that this has little to do with Larish and more to do with Bobby Seay pitching every day and a bunch of games against lefty heavy teams coming up. Seay has pitched 3 days in a [...]

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What’s up with Verlander in the stretch?

26.04.2009 19 comments

Justin Verlander has gotten off to a rough start in 2009. People are starting to question his “ace-hood” and with an ERA of 9.00 after 4 starts it is probably justified. What makes his start so perplexing is that his “stuff” appears to be back. His fastball velocity is over 95mph and he’s fanning 10.7 batters per 9 innings. The numbers that really need a deeper examination though are those when runners are on base. Verlander is stranding only 39.6% of runners (a normal rate is 65-75%) and hitters post a 457 OBP with men on and only 296 with the bases empty. What’s up with that?

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