Tag Archives: alfredo figaro

Casper Wells to join the Tigers

It appears that the Tigers are calling up another young outfielder. The rumor has it that Casper Wells has been called up to the 25 man roster.

There likely won’t be an official roster move until tomorrow, but my guess is that Jim Leyland would like another position player on the bench the next two days. Ryan Raburn isn’t eligible to come back (barring a DL trip for somebody) until he’s spent 10 days on optional assignment.

Here’s how I think things will play out:

  • Wells will take Alfredo Figaro’s spot on the roster effective tomorrow.
  • Armando Galarraga will be recalled to start on Sunday. Otherwise somebody would be pitching on short rest (either Jeremy Bonderman or Rick Porcello). Galarraga last started on  Tuesday so Sunday would be normal rest for him.
  • When Galarraga is activated Wells will be sent down.
  • Galarraga will likely be returned to Toledo after his start and another position player will be called up until Raburn can return. My guess would be Wilkin Ramirez at that point.

Wells has been struggling this year with a 191/268/374 line but he does have 5 homers.

Figaro to join team Wednesday

Figaro has been formally recalled and Ryan Raburn has been optioned to Toledo where he’ll stay for at least the requisite ten days unless a DL stint is required. It could be longer however if Carlos Guillen is ready to return. Presumably Figaro is here short term just to get through the doubleheader with Thomas unavailable and the team probably preferring to give Bonine the day off as well.

With the double header scheduled for Wednesday, it appears that Alfredo Figaro will be joining the team in Detroit. Dontrelle Willis was reportedly still sick today, and the team is probably concerned about getting thin if Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman struggle to put up innings.

It’s unclear at this point if Figaro has been activated or if he will just be in Detroit and available should the need present itself in game 2.

Robertson traded

Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis have secured the final two spots in the Tigers rotation, and Nate Robertson secured a spot with the Marlins. The Tigers today traded Robertson and $9.6 million of his $10 million contract for Marlins left handed prospect Jay Voss. For my thoughts on the trade, well, just look back a couple days.

Robertson outpitched his two competitors not only this spring, but last year as well. The stats say that Robertson should be in the rotation. It has to be a tough pill for Robertson to swallow.*

Continue reading Robertson traded

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/24/09

Louisville 5 Toledo 0
Scott Sizemore doubled and walked. Brooks Brown left after 3 innings, and 3 runs. Freddy Dolsi and Zach Simons each pitched perfect innings.

Akron 3 Erie 1
Deik Scram went 2 for 4. Danny Worth walked 3 times. Jon Kibler allowed just 1 hit in 6 innings to go with 7 k’s an d4 walks. Alfredo Figaro pitched 1 inning of relief with a walk and 2 K’s. Cody Satterwhite took the loss allowing 3 runs in his inning of work.

Lakeland DNP

West Michigan 5 Lansing 4
Jordan Lennerton and Joe Bowen each had a double and a single. Robert Waite pitched 6 shut-out innings allowing just 4 hits and a walk while fanning 2. Brandon Hamilton coughed up the lead with 3 runs on 4 hits (including a homer) in 1 inning.

Staten Island 6 Oneonta 7 (11 innings)
Alexis Espinoza had 3 hits including 2 doubles. Rawley Bishop walked 3 times and doubled. Jose Siso allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks with 4 K’s in 5 innings.

Oneonta 1 Staten Island 2
Rawley Bishop singled and walked. Luis Angel Sanz walked 5 but allowed just 1 run in 5 innings.

GCL Tigers 10 GCL Yankees 0
Chao-Ting Tang homered, singled, and walked twice. James Robbins, Francisco Martinez, and Londell Taylor all had multi-hit games. Giovany Soto pitched 5 shut-out innings on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 4 K’s. Marcos Nunez went the other 4 innings and he also allowed 4 hits and fanned 4.

Figaro has shorter leash than Willis

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 of jams in first effort. The optimist can look at his heat and the breaking ball he featured when it wasn’t being hung. The pessimist sees someone who doesn’t locate his pitches well enough to be effective. The two sides meet in the middle and say, maybe he just needs to refine his stuff a little in the minors.

French is left handed which could be a factor in this decision as well with the Tigers taking on Morneau, Mauer, and Kubel next weekend. (Kurt figured this out before the move was even made) French has also been pitching pretty good and has earned the promtion. He has quality starts in 5 of his last 6 outings, and the one where he didn’t it was 4 runs in 6.2 innings. Over those last 6 starts he has 41 K’s and 7 walks in 43.1 innings.

Pondering Pen Possibilities

While the performances of the Tigers starters have been fairly unremarkable this spring, things are better at the back end of games. It looks like there are actual battles taking place, and in the favorable sense.

Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney, and Bobby Seay are locks for the pen leaving four spots open. Zach Miner is also a pretty solid bet, enough to pencil in at least. That leaves three spots open.

Continue reading Pondering Pen Possibilities

Tigers set 40 man roster

Today is the deadline for the Tigers to announce who would and wouldn’t be protected from the Rule 5 draft on the 40 man roster. Below is the roster, and highlighted are the 5 players who the Tigers just added: Alfredo Figaro, Casper Wells, Zach Simons, Guillermo Moscoso, and Wilkin Ramirez. That brings the total to 38.
Continue reading Tigers set 40 man roster

Tigers Minor League Wrap 5-9-08

Toledo 8 Charlotte 1
The power duo of Mike Hessman and Jeff Larish were at it again. Hessman had two homers and Larish had one. Larish added two walks and Hessman added a single. Clete Thomas had two assists gunning down a runner at third and home. Eddie Bonine pitched a complete game on 104 pitches fanning 5, walking 1, and allowing 8 hits.

Harrisburg 4 Erie 3
Wilkin Ramirez singled and homered. Lucas French went 8 innings and allowed 1 run on 2 walks and 2 strike outs. Casey Fien blew the save allowing 3 runs on 2 hits, and two walks despite fanning 3.

Vero Beach 5 Lakeland 2
Cale Iorg singled and walked and stole 2 bases. Luis Marte fanned 6 and walked 1 while allowing 3 runs over 6 innings.

West Michigan 3 Lansing 7
Chris Carlson was a triple short of the cycle. Alfredo Figaro went 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, a walk, and 5 K’s. Noah Krol didn’t record an out but allowed 4 runs.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-4-08

Durham 2 Toledo 9
Jeff Larish went deep and added a single. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 RBI. Armando Galarraga pitched 5 shut out innings allowing only 3 hits and a walk while fanning 6. Aaron Fultz pitched a scoreless inning but allowed 2 hits.

Erie 8 Bowie 3 (11 innings)
Big game for Jeff Frazier who had 4 hits including a homer and 5 RBI. Wilkin Ramirez is playing again after his shoulder injury and he had 2 hits. Deik Scram had 2 doubles and Freddy Guzman added 2 hits and 2 stolen bases. Jon Connolly allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings with no K’s. Matt Rusch had a blown save, but allowed only 1 hit and no walks while fanning 4 in 3 innings of work.

Lakeland 4 Tampa 5
Scott Sizemore homered to go along with 2 singles and a walk. Duane Below allowed 3 runs, only one of which was earned, on 3 hits and a walk while fanning 4 over 4 innings.

West Michigan 2 South Bend 1
Jordan Newton had catching duties tonight and had the only multi hit game, including a triple. Casper Wells struggled striking out 4 times. Alfredo Figaro allowed a single unearned run on 2 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings of work.