From the category archives:

Players

Damon and his homers

02.21.2010 256 comments

Much has been made about Johnny Damon’s offensive numbers being inflated by the new Yankee Stadium. Damon matched his career high of 24 homers last year at the age of 36. He also posted the highest slugging percentage of his career and with 17 of his homers coming at home he clearly benefitted from the short porch. How might the move to a much more spacious Comerica Park effect Damon’s 2010 production?

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Gerald Laird arrested

12.31.2009 117 comments

Gerald Laird was arrested Wednesday night for assaulting a security guard at a Phoneix Suns game.

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Playing in the spray – Curtis Granderson

11.16.2009 25 comments

Curtis Granderson’s 2009 season has received plenty of scrutiny, and this was even before trade rumors crept up. His .249 batting average was the lowest of his career and it was a drag on his on base percentage and slugging percentage as well. We know batting average is volatile so did Granderson just suffer from some bad luck, or did something else change? Fortunately we have hit location data to help shed some light on these questions.

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Clete’s Cougars

05.19.2009 18 comments

It appears that Clete Thomas has himself a cheering section.

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What’s up with Verlander in the stretch?

04.26.2009 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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Granderson talks to Tiger Tales

12.16.2008 1 comment

Lee Panas of Detroit Tiger Tales recently interviewed Curtis Granderson. Lee asked several thoughtful questions and Granderson responded with some pretty thoughtful answers. My favorite was an exchange about Granderson’s defense last season:
TT: In the past, you have indicated that you take pride in your defense and that you have worked hard on that part [...]

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Todd Jones retires

09.24.2008 25 comments

It’s really not all that surprising, but Todd Jones has announced his retirement. This was likely to be Jones last season regardless, but the injury and resulting ineffectiveness likely sealed the deal.
Jones is the Tigers all time saves leader and his 319 career saves places him 14th in the history of the game.
I’m hoping [...]

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Rotational Flux

09.07.2008 1 comment

The Tigers are going to be mixing and matching down the stretch it appears. Kenny Rogers will miss his next start. This is due to hip pain that is believed to be rendering him completely ineffective. (Yes, the old guy has a bad hip. The jokes seem to easy to make, [...]

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And that will close the book on Todd Jones

08.27.2008 19 comments

It is looking more and more like Todd Jones has thrown his last pitch. He was with the team the past couple days, but the shoulder isn’t getting better and he is headed home to Alabama.
Jones called a team meeting before the Tigers went out on the field for batting practice and, with hugs, [...]

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Grandy’s a stud, is Matt Joyce?

08.22.2008 8 comments

Baseball Prospectus just released what they call “The Ultimate Fantasy Draft.” Essentially they throw contract status out the window and rank the 50 players that teams should build around. Curtis Granderson earned a ranking of 16, right between Ryan Braun and Tim Lincecum (and two spots behind Miguel Cabrera).
Nate Silver had this to [...]

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Sheffield talks about stuff

08.10.2008 58 comments

Gary Sheffield still isn’t happy with his DH role. In a Boston Globe article Sheffield was his typically candid self.
“I can be in the outfield and play every day. I don’t want to DH. I don’t feel like a baseball player when I DH. I don’t know how to be the leader that I [...]

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Random Friday factoids

08.01.2008 15 comments

Some stats and such that may or may not be interesting:
Edgar Renteria might not totally suck
Edgar Renteria is hitting 288/351/404 since the All Star Break. He is a career 290/347/404 hitter. He also has only 4 strike outs in his last 57 plate appearances (and 4 GIDP – eek). A return to normalcy [...]

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