The Detroit Tiger Weblog

Author: billfer

  • Game 141: Tigers at Twins

    PREGAME: Tonight the NFL kicks off it’s season, and for the first time in recent memory I could care less. The Tigers enter this series knowing that they could A)Effectively knock the Twins out of the divisional race B)Find themselves in a tie for 1st place or C)tread water for 4 more games. Looking at the pitching matchups, A would seem like a possibility, but given the way the Tigers have hit against everyone lately I’d be satisfied with C.

    Scott Baker will be taking the hill sporting an ERA 3 runs higher than his Detroit counterpart Justin Verlander. But in his last start (and his only start since August 1st) Baker limited the Yankees to 1 runs on 2 hits over 5 innings.

    Verlander is coming off a start in which he threw 126 pitches in just 7 innings. I’ll be watching Verlander’s velocity as well as seeing how quick Jim Leyland is with the hook.

    Game Time 8:10

    POSTGAME: There wasn’t much not to like about this game with the exception of Verlander throwing 15-20 more pitches than were necessary. But along the way he really staked a claim for the Rookie of the Year award with an excellent performance in a high profile game.

    The Tigers had a balanced attack from the offense, and rendered two pitchers unavailable for the next couple nights.

    As Pete pointed out in the comments, we’ve been here before with an impressive series opener only to struggle in the subsequent games. Even winning 1 in the next 3 and the Tigers have improved their chances of taking the division. But let’s not think like that yet.

  • Dmitri Young Released

    The Tigers unconditionally released Dmitri Young.

    I have no idea what happened at this time. The press release just came across.

    UPDATE: In the News Dombrowski said the move was strictly performance related. I don’t buy it. Something else went down. There are lots of guys slumping, and the Tigers DFA’d Spurling earlier in the day to free up a roster spot for Maroth. This had something to do with what transpired in today’s game, or during the rain delay.

  • Game 140: Mariners at Tigers

    PREGAME: The Tiger offense is still in a funk, and to top it off they face Tiger killer Gil Meche. In his first 2 starts against the Tigers this year, he has allowed 3 runs over 13 innings while fanning 15.

    Meanwhile, Kenny Rogers has been the Tigers hottest starter, but if the bats don’t get going soon they’ll need near perfection from Rogers.

    Game Time 1:05

  • Maroth back, Spurling DFA’d

    Mike Maroth was activated from the 60 Day disabled list today. To make room the Tigers designated for assigment the contract of Chris Spurling.

    This move is curious on several fronts. First, unless there is a roster rule I’m not familiar with, the Tigers could have moved Tony Giarratano to the 60 Day DL freeing up the spot on the 40 man roster. (And to the best of my knowledge making another player eligible for the post season roster).

    Second, Chris Spurling is actually decent. He had more success than he probably should have last year given his strikeout rate, but he proved to be effective. And in his time in Toledo he posted a 2.05 ERA spanning 66 innings and 49 appearances with only 10 walks allowed.

    Even if Spurling wasn’t going to be part of the Tigers long term or short term plans, it seems he could have returned some value in offseason trades.

    This isn’t a huge disappointment to me, but it’s just odd in that the Tigers had another option to free up that spot.

  • Game 139: Mariners at Tigers (and Bloggers)

    PREGAME: The long awaited bloggers night is here. If you’re heading down to the game, plenty of tickets are still available. Of course you could sit anywhere, but the cool (aka geeky) kids will be sitting in section 212 row 1.

    We’ll be watching the struggling Jeremy Bonderman take on Jake Woods. Hopefully a bunch of bloggers will inspire Bondo onto victory, and help Omar continue to stake a claim to the second base job – even after Neifi is healthy.

    And Brent Clevlen has been recalled

    Game Time 7:05
    Happy Hour 5:15 @ Nemo’s

  • Erie Coaching Staff Canned

    Manager Duffy Dyer, pitching coach Mike Caldwell, and hitting coach Pete Incaviglia were all fired following yesterday’s game (which ended the season).

    Erie had an awful season, and they really had no offense to speak of. Clevlen had come off a good season the year before, and a great spring training, and yet struggled in AA before having success in a very small sample in Detroit.

    On the pitching side, it was surprising to see Caldwell let go. Humberto Sanchez took the next step forward in his development under Caldwell this year. Eulogio De La Cruz also finally started to put things together this year after being touted as a prospect for the last several years. Last year Joel Zumaya, who had shown glimpses in prior seasons, became a dominant force under Caldwell. Going farther back Wil Ledezma had an excellent season under Caldwell in 2004.

    I honestly don’t know how much Caldwell contributed to those players successes, or if they were just talented enough to do it no matter who the pitching coach was. But he certainly didn’t seem to hurt any of those guys development.

  • Game 138: Mariners at Tigers

    PREGAME: Nate Robertson makes his 100th career start today as a Detroit Tiger. The last time a starter had a milestone game, the Tigers beat the bejeezus out of the Cubs to earn Kenny Rogers his 200th victory. Here’s hoping that they can get some of that magic back today.

    Of course the Tigers problem lately hasn’t been pitching, but the complete lack of offense. The Tigers will look to get that going against lefty Jarrod Washburn.

    Game Time 1:05pm

    POSTGAME: Just a couple nights ago I called out Magglio Ordonez for failing to catch a ball that would have ended the game. Today Ordonez made a very nice sliding grab, to compliment his first inning 2 run homer. It doesn’t absolve him for Saturday night, but the effort and production today are needed and greatly appreciated.

    It was also nice to see Chris Shelton back at first base. He was 0 for 2 with a walk, but his approach was solid. He did a good job laying off pitches out of the zone and didn’t look to be going all out to pull the ball.

    Nate Robertson got more run support than he has in the last month it seems and he only needed 1 run. Thus continuing the excellent starting pitching streak the Tigers have been enjoying.

    But the at-bat of the day had to be Omar Infante’s 9 pitch effort in the 7th that resulted in a two run double. And I’m not just saying that because his play continues to prove everyone right who lobbied for him to be the everyday 2nd baseman in Polanco’s absence.

    So feel good for another day Tigers fans. We’ve seen some games that we thought were momentum shifters in the past, only to be stymied in the next game. Here’s hoping this is the beginning of a beautiful win streak.

  • Hooper in, Kelly out

    With Carlos Guillen and Neifi Perez hurting, the Tigers made a roster move. Yesterday the Tigers designated for assignment the contract of Don Kelly to make room for uber utility guy Kevin Hooper.

    After showing some high OBP promise early in his minor league career, Kelly didn’t get the job done at Toledo and managed only a 304 OBP. He went to Erie and posted a 354 OBP, but only a 692 OPS which probably isn’t enough for a 26 year old in AA.

    Hooper can play a lot of positions, is 30 years old, and really brings nothing to the table offensively (636 OPS for AAA Toledo).

    It’s one thing to bring up a pinchrunner/late defensive replacement for some depth. It’s another thing to make room for one by clearing space on the 40 man roster. And then there is the fact that this team is in need of offense. They currently have their fill of Neifi Perez/Ramon Santiago/Alexis Gomez types (although to be fair to Gomez, he has shown some offensive pop). If they were inclined to free up a spot on the 40 man, why not elect to go with a Ryan Raburn type who hit 277/355/494?

    Raburn struggles defensively, and like the current Tiger roster, he strikes out quite a bit (118 this season). But he could still fill the pinch runner role, with 16 swipes in 20 attempts and not be an automatic out in the lineup.

    As for Guillen, he hopes to be back in a couple days and says the injury is not bad. I think that hope is shared by Tiger fans everywhere. Carlos Guillen is the most important position player on this team for the sole fact that he is far and away the team’s best hitter.

  • In search of a little support

    Normally when a team is slumping, you look to the next day’s starting pitcher to put a stop to the slide. It’s one of those things that people talk about when defining an ace. Well how much more can you ask for from a rotation that has put up these performances over the last 6 games?

    Date	Pitcher		Opponent	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
08/30	Robertson	At NYA		7	10	2	2	1	2	4
08/30	Ledezma		At NYA		5 1/3	2	2	2	0	1	2
08/31	Bonderman	At NYA		5 1/3	11	4	4	0	3	5
09/01	Rogers		Vs. LAA		7	4	0	0	0	2	2
09/02	Verlander	Vs. LAA		7	4	0	0	0	4	6
09/03	Ledezma		Vs. LAA		6	3	2	2	1	3	2
Totals					37 2/3	34	10	10	2	15	21
									
									
									
ERA	K per 9	BB per 9	HR per 9	K/BB				
2.39	5.0	3.6		0.5		1.4

    When the team’s worst effort is a 4 run 5 1/3 inning performance against the Yankees, I think it’s safe to say the starters are doing their job. Unfortunately, the team has only won 2 of those games. (And in what is rough luck for the starters, Kenny Rogers was the only member of the rotation to pick up a win)

    I guess it is time for the team to rely on something other than Big League Chew to generate offense.

  • Game 137: Angels at Tigers

    PREGAME: Wil Ledezma against Kelvim Escobar.

    Game Time 8:00pm on ESPN2

    POSTGAME: The look of the lineup without Carlos Guillen is troubling to say the least. The result is another defeat in which the starting pitcher did everything you could ask for. Yet the bats remained cold.

    The only big play for the Tigers offense was the Ordonez single in which Craig Monroe was thrown out trying to score. It has been called a boneheaded call but I couldn’t disagree more. Given the way the Tigers were hitting, Gene Lamont had to send Monroe home on that play – especially with 2 outs.

    If you send Monroe home, you’re banking on the fact that Juan Rivera doesn’t make a perfect throw and/or Jose Molina has no troubles handling the throw and applying the tag. Going into the play I like those odds better than the 3 out of 10 odds that Sean Casey doesn’t make an out. Given the way Escobar was pitching, and the fact that the situation was created by a ground ball single, a walk, and an error, Casey’s odds of success probably weren’t even that good.

    The Angels executed the play to perfection. Sometimes you have to credit the other team.

    That play doesn’t make up for the fact that once again the lineup completely failed to produce. Escobar was excellent, but 3 singles just isn’t going to cut it.

  • Game 136: Angels at Tigers

    PREGAME: After a very pleasant beginning to the final month of the season, the Tigers will look to keep the good times coming. This is of course predicated on the rain stopping.

    Justin Verlander will be taking the mound. He wasn’t able to hold a lead in his last start against Cleveland and his final line showed 8 runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings. With Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Liriano injured, this is Verlander’s chance to stake a claim to the Rookie of the Year award.

    Joe Saunders will be pitching for the Angels. He joined the rotation in late July and won his first 4 starts allowing only 7 runs over 27 innings. However in his last 3 starts he’s allowed 18 runs over 10 2/3 innings.

    Game Time 7:05

    POSTGAME: This one definitely leaves a bad taste. Todd Jones deserved better with the only hard hit ball being the triple to Chone Figgins. This game should have been over without a 10th inning. This one also doesn’t go on Neifi who did make an error, but again, it shouldn’t have come to that.

    This one is on Magglio Ordonez who failed to go all out and make a play in the top of the 9th. He followed it up by weakly striking out and failing to run to first on the ball in the dirt to end the game.

    And speaking of guys who deserved better, how about Justin Verlander? I can’t say I agree with him being allowed to throw 122 pitches, but he was very good. As was his counterpart, Joe Saunders.

    And finally, I just want to recognize a guy who doesn’t get a lot of recognition, in Ramon Santiago. He made a couple nice plays down at third base and hung in and had a very solid at-bat against K-Rod.

  • Chris Shelton recalled

    The Tigers continue to expand their roster and today brought back Chris Shelton. With a southpaw starting tonight for the Angels, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Shelton in the starting lineup.

    During his month with Toledo he hit 266/372/440 and he struck out 37 times in 109 at-bats. I don’t think his swing is all the way back as evidenced by his K’s and the lack of power. However he did walk 18 times so it would seem to indicate that at least his pitch recognition is on it’s way back.